


Nanako Explains It All

by Angevon, herrDoktorat (rikkuni)



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Ensemble Cast, Gen, Pansexual Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 16:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 49
Words: 354,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2394935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angevon/pseuds/Angevon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikkuni/pseuds/herrDoktorat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nanako Dojima is a sixteen-year-old transfer student to Inaba. She awakens to the mysterious power of 'Persona' and then rocks everyone's world.</p><p>Character Swap AU: Nanako is the protagonist, and Souji is her little cousin. Other changes have occurred as well!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> Angevon here! Hello, and welcome to Nanako Explains It All! Do you have the Nickelodeon theme song stuck in your head yet? Na na na na na...
> 
> The gist of this story is that Nanako Dojima and the Main Character (Souji Seta) have switched places. This means that Nanako is the transfer student who discovers the TV World and investigates the murders and earns a Persona, etc. Souji, then, is her lonely little cousin who's missing one of his parents...
> 
> It was inspired by a request on the Persona 4 Kink Meme (but not written for it). I couldn't stop thinking of Nanako as the main character, and before I knew it, I was rewriting the entirety of Persona 4 to accommodate her.
> 
> As a result, Nanako and Souji's 'swap' aren't the only changes. Several social links will be different (the little cousin, for example, is no longer of the Justice arcana), and her initial Persona will be different, and important events will carry on differently due to Nanako's background and personality (and, of course, my own whims). If it was the same old story, it wouldn't be worth reading, right? I'd rather not give away all the changes here in the author's notes!
> 
> Obviously, there will be spoilers for the entire game/anime/manga. It shouldn't matter which version of the Persona 4 story you're most familiar with, although game mechanics will be mentioned and poked fun at, especially those concerning social links and the Velvet Room's services. As a sidenote, the game itself will be the canon I'm using. If you'd like to see a playthrough of the game for reference, I recommend [Really Pants' playthrough of Persona 4: Golden](http://lparchive.org/Persona-4-Golden/) on the Let's Play Archive. I've been using it as a reference myself, actually!
> 
> Other warnings: the humor will be juvenile at times (you'll know what I mean by the end of chapter 4, so if you don't like Nanako's sense of humor by then, it's probably not a story meant for you, haha), there'll be swearing here and there, and there's going to be some violence, although nothing too graphic—mainly when fighting Shadows. There won't be sexual content, but there will be innuendo, nudity, and discussions of sexuality. The story should hopefully stay within a T-rating, but it might straddle the line at times. She's mostly reminiscent of the Female Protagonist from Persona 3 Portable, but Nanako sometimes gets out of my control even as I write her...! 
> 
> I've marked my best friend (herrdoktorat) as coauthor because honestly he's improved practically every scene with his comments and suggestions. He is totally my ideas man! When I don't know how to proceed, he always finds a way! So, yeah, hehe, it's a bit of thanks & all that...
> 
> Updates will be ~~on the first Thursday of every month!~~ whenever I can manage!
> 
> A Yu Narukami version is available [here at Dreamwidth!](http://angevon.dreamwidth.org/22576.html)

[4/11: Monday]

Nanako Dojima didn't watch the gravure Risette advertisement playing on the TVs at the train station. Instead, she watched the people watching the ad. Watching people. That was something her father, a police detective, had taught her.

 _That guy,_ she thought, looking at a middle-aged salaryman with glasses, _is going to remember this ad tonight._

She sighed to herself. Quelorie Magic tasted like chalk, why would anyone bother? But she could do with a Mad Bull right now... No, no caffeine. She planned to sleep on the train. She'd stayed up all night marathoning Magical Detective Loveline for that express purpose. Sure, it was a kid's show, but tons of adults watched Featherman with nostalgia as their excuse, so she didn't allow herself to feel immature for enjoying it. Besides, the show was good, if campy at times, and every episode had a moral or made some sort of statement.

The ad changed to a couple of news anchors discussing a political scandal that Nanako couldn't care less about. The two people who had been watching the Risette ad must have felt the same, because one shuffled off and the other turned away. This left Nanako with only a kid playing a game on his cell phone to look at. He was pretty into it, whatever game it was, gaze fixed on the screen even when some lady with oversized luggage bumped into him. Nanako had a bunch of games on her own phone that she could while away the time with, but she didn't really feel like taking it out right now. Didn't want to feel too reliant on it, since it was her only means of communication with her family at the moment. She was dead set on the road to independence!

Thankfully, the train pulled up before she grew too bored of her surroundings. She boarded and took a seat in an empty row and put her duffel bag on the seat next to her, thereby preventing anyone else from sitting there. This was Tokyo, after all. The last thing she wanted was some pervert sitting next to her when she was trying to get some shut eye...

* * *

Maybe that shouldn't have been her last thought as she drifted off because she had a very vivid dream of a guy with an impossibly long nose. He told her about—something, she wasn't quite listening because she couldn't stop staring at that nose. He had long, pointy ears, too, bulging eyes, and spindly fingers covered by elegant white gloves.

While he spoke, she became vaguely aware of her surroundings. She seemed to be in a limousine furnished in blue velvet, and fog streamed by outside the windows. The full liquor shelf caught her eye, a detail she never thought her waking imagination would create. She hadn't seen anything like that on Loveline last night—rather, this morning—had she?

The long-nosed man, who introduced himself as Igor, tapped the short table in front of him to focus her attention. He showed her some tarot cards, but Nanako didn't believe in fortune telling, so she just politely nodded when he gave her the reading. Her future sounded portentous anyway. Both catastrophe _and_ misfortune awaited her? Huh, maybe she wasn't as happy about moving away from her family for the year as she'd pretended.

Or maybe the catastrophe was directed towards other people. Nanako was going to shake up peoples' worlds. Yeah! That she could get behind. Now she was getting excited!

"Tell me more," she requested, and the grin on Igor's face, which hadn't dropped even when he was telling her the bad news, seemed to widen.

* * *

Nanako blinked herself awake, then looked muzzily out the window, barely registering the terrain going by. There was no fog out here.

After that dream, she wasn't sure she wanted to get back to sleep. It had just been so _weird._ She was pretty sure she didn't know anything about fortune telling at all. The only tarot cards she could name were Death and Lovers because, well, those were the ones everyone knew from movies, and those hadn't been the cards she'd been shown, so it was pretty weird to have a dream like that.

Maybe staying up all night had been a bad idea.

* * *

Some hours later, the train stopped at Yasoinaba Station. Nanako was the only person to get off the train. Yep, this was Nowheresville all right. She'd been warned about it, but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. The train station, so bustling back home, was a ghost town. There wasn't even an attendant sweeping the place or anything like that. She was literally alone. She almost expected a tumbleweed to roll by. Or some stray whistling to begin out of nowhere.

She walked around the small station for a bit simply to stretch her legs. The nearest vending machines were sold out of drinks and looked like they hadn't been restocked in weeks. The buttons were all scratched up and cobwebs covered the slot the drinks came out of. There was an abandoned bicycle at the bike rack next to the vending machines. It was missing a wheel and rusting on its chain. Weeds grew unchecked in the cracks in the sidewalk. The shadowy shape of some creature darted into an alley when she walked by it.

Luckily, the train had been right on time. Now she just had to hope her family would also be on time, or else... uh, she'd be alone for even longer? It was kind of chilling to think about being abandoned here in the middle of nowhere. Hey, what if that's what that Igor guy meant about catastrophe? Nanako Dojima, the only survivor in a post-apocalyptic world, must band together with the local wildlife—

"Ah, over here!"

Nanako turned to see a dark-haired, middle-aged woman in a business suit and stylish heels walking briskly towards her. She wore a little too much makeup and the strong scent of perfume preceded her.

"Nanako-chan," the lady said with a very red-lipsticky smile. Nanako made an involuntary face at the honorific. This lady didn't know her well enough to call her that, but...

"Aunt Seta," Nanako replied with a polite curtsey.

She was family, so...

"This is my son," Aunt Seta said.

Son? Being a detective's daughter, Nanako prided herself on her powers of observation, but she hadn't even noticed the little boy hiding in his mother's shadow. Was there even a child there? Nanako squinted in the waning sunlight but couldn't see much of anything.

"Souji, don't be shy. This is your cousin, and she's going to live with us for the next year. We've talked about this!" The woman grabbed the boy by the wrist and yanked him forward.

Now Nanako could get a good view. He was a very young boy, she judged, maybe in kindergarten, with strange gray hair in a bowl cut and matching gray eyes that were very, very wide.

Aunt Seta pushed the boy forward in order to goad him into approaching, but the boy ended up stumbling into the asphalt.

The fall looked like it had _hurt._ Nanako hissed sympathetically.

On the ground, the boy took a deep breath, the obvious precursor to crying. Then his mother clicked her tongue at him. The boy stared at the ground for a very long moment, and then sighed and pulled himself up to his feet.

"Anyway," Aunt Seta said, as if that entire incident hadn't just happened. "We need to stop and get gas, so—what are you...?"

Nanako couldn't take it. She rushed up to the boy, bent down, and wrapped her arms around him. The boy made a confused sound and tried to pull away. "Hey, cousin? Let's be friends," she whispered in his ear.

The boy stiffened. "F-friends...?" he whispered back.

She opened her mouth to say something further, but Aunt Seta cleared her throat. "The gas station closes soon," she said crisply, "so I would appreciate it if we could get moving."

Nanako frowned but kept her mouth shut. She did, however, help the little boy into the back seat of the car, and she made sure he was buckled in. By the way the boy pouted and played with the belt, she suspected his mother neglected to buckle him up. Nanako wanted to sigh in exasperation, but settled with patting the boy's hand and then strapping herself in, too. Lead by example!

"You can sit in the front, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta commented. "There's no need to stay in the back."

"I'm already back here, so..." Nanako replied. "But thank you anyway, Aunt Seta."

Her aunt shrugged and then they were off.

A ghost town with only the three of them in it... To Nanako's vast relief, she saw plenty of other people from the car. Inaba wasn't quite as unpopulated as she'd thought. Well, there had to be enough people around to warrant a school at least. Damn, tomorrow was the first day of school already. She hadn't even had a chance to familiarize herself with the town. Oh well, that's just how it had turned out. At least most of her most important belongings should already be at the house. She'd mailed several boxes worth of stuff ahead of time to the Seta residence. She didn't relish unpacking them all, however.

Her little cousin was staring at her and gripping the seatbelt tightly. She wondered if she should say anything to him, but then Aunt Seta's phone rang and the woman cursed with language she really shouldn't use in front of her son (or niece, for that matter). It killed any desire Nanako had for conversation stone dead.

Fortunately they soon stopped at the gas station. Nanako was surprised to hear Souji speak up to ask to use the bathroom. "You know where it is," Aunt Seta told him while they were still in the car. She turned her head towards Nanako and added, "Sorry, I have to make a call."

Souji watched his mother walk away from the car with a mournful expression. "M-Mama...?" he mumbled. "I can't get out..."

Nanako undid her own seatbelt and then leaned towards him. "Here," she said, holding the buckle part of the boy's seatbelt. She demonstrated how to unbuckle it. He didn't respond—he just sort of stared at her hands. "Uh, come on," she said. "Let's go to the bathroom together, okay?"

Now he was staring at her face. His gray eyes were so expressionless! After a long moment, he nodded.

He exited the car and she went through the same door, since she'd scooted over to his side of the car anyway. She followed the boy through the sliding glass doors and into the convenience store. He did indeed seem to know where the bathrooms were. She had to stop him before he went into the boy's room, though. "Come on, this way," she said, taking his hand and leading him towards the girl's room.

"I-I'm not a girl," he murmured.

"If your mom was here, would she take you into the boy's room or the girl's room?"

He seemed troubled by the question, but no longer resisted her pull.

After he was done with his business, Nanako picked him up so that he could reach the sink to wash his hands. Then she pulled down some paper towels for him to dry them on, but he'd already dried them on his shirt. She wondered how he washed his hands without someone to help him and realized with distaste that he probably didn't. Oh, well, he was just a kid, after all.

On the way out of the store, Nanako thought about buying a soda—now she could use some caffeine—but she'd left her purse in the duffel bag in the car. She sighed and tried to ignore the huge display for Dr. Salt Neo at the front of the store. It seemed to be mocking her.

They exited the store and nothing outside had changed. Ghost town, she thought to herself, and followed it up by humming the theme song to a mystery show she liked. There were no new vehicles waiting for gas or anything. That moving truck in the far bay was still there. She wondered if her aunt had even gotten any gas. The woman was still on the phone, pacing around the flags along the sidewalk that advertised deals in the convenience store.

"Th-there you are!" a man in a red and orange gas station uniform suddenly said. The man held his hand out in front of him and then stopped before them.

Souji immediately hugged Nanako's leg and hid his face against her skirt. Clearly the boy had a fear of strangers.

"Yes?" Nanako asked, wondering why the gas station attendant was even addressing them.

The gas station attendant worked his jaw like he was wondering the same thing. Then his strange red eyes brightened. "Ah! I haven't seen your face before. Are you new to town?"

Ah, well, Inaba was a ghost town—small town, she mentally corrected. Nanako supposed everyone probably knew each other. "Yep. I'm from Tokyo. Just visiting." She began to walk towards the car, gently pulling Souji along by the hand.

"Hey—" the attendant said as she passed him.

"Sorry," Nanako said briskly, "I gotta teach my little cousin about seatbelt safety while Auntie is preoccupied."

"Most people don't drive very much around here," the attendant commented. "Inaba is a small town, as I'm sure you've noticed. By the way, are you in high school—"

"That's no reason to be negligent. Did you know almost half of all children's deaths are from car accidents? And almost half of those could have been prevented if the child was in a safety seat?" Well, Nanako might have been exaggerating and she didn't have numbers to back up her words, but she felt strongly on this issue.

While she was caught up in her crusade, she hadn't realized the gas station attendant had closed the distance between them until he was barely a foot and a half away from her. Souji was now tugging her skirt in his anxiety, and Nanako worried for a second that he might pull it down which would make this situation even creepier.

"We are looking for part-time help," the man breathed. He held out his hand towards her. "We hire students. Won't you consider it?"

"Maybe?" she answered. "I mean, I just got here not even an hour ago, sheesh." _I'm not touching you. You're the type to think it's a date or something!_

While she was trying to cross her arms, the man grabbed her hand with inhuman speed. Acting on well-honed instincts from her aikido lessons, she lowered her center of mass and then lifted up with her caught hand against the pressure point in his wrist until he hissed in pain. Then she let the arm drop, which unbalanced him and enabled her to throw him into a tumble away from her.

Nanako clutched her hand, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "In the car now, cousin!" she shouted. She glanced around for witnesses, but the problem with small towns is that there was _no one around._ Maybe her aunt had noticed and would call the cops! No such luck; Aunt Seta was facing away from them, still on the phone.

She jumped into a defensive stance and watched the man for his next move.

But the attendant remained on the ground and was now holding up both of his hands in a gesture of peace. "Hey, hey! I didn't mean anything by that." His red eyes were flashing, but he didn't seem angry. "I just wanted a friendly handshake. Do they not have those in Tokyo?" He picked up his hat, which had fallen off during the tumble, and secured it back onto his head.

"Maybe I overreacted," Nanako admitted, lowering her fists, "but man, it's called personal space, and you're only allowed in it if you're invited, okay? Especially if you're a guy!"

"I'm n—hmph. Yes, I see. In tha—" 

"Is she filled up?"

Both Nanako and the attendant blinked rapidly at the interruption. It was Aunt Seta, finally done with her call.

Nanako exhaled in relief and then scurried into the car while her aunt paid for the gas.

* * *

Later that night, Nanako went up to the room that would be hers for the next year. She didn't take the time to appreciate her new home at all, though she did observe that her boxes from home were present.

She felt like shit.

There was no nice way to put it; 'shit' described it perfectly. Damn, she really shouldn't have stayed up all night. What little sleep she'd managed to get on the train was obviously not enough. But somehow this feeling wasn't related to that. It was like a headache, but not exactly achy, just... it left her kind of lightheaded, like she wanted to throw up.

Maybe it was from the awkward dinner. Because of how sick she'd felt after what she was now calling the 'Gas Station Incident,' she hardly had an appetite for the takeout that her aunt had picked up—despite not having eaten all day. And in the middle of inquiring what her responsibilities around the house would be, Aunt Seta had taken a phone call and excused herself from the table to talk in another room.

Which left her with that awkward little boy, Souji. But as soon as they'd finished eating, he'd put the takeout boxes in the trash, and then he'd escaped without a word to his own room. He'd closed the door behind him, too. So she'd waited for her aunt to return.

It had taken her over an hour to finish the call.

"I'm sorry, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta had said. "I took the afternoon off to pick you up, but it seems I can't escape my responsibilities at the office." She'd then sighed.

She'd also completely failed to notice that her son wasn't around.

After having watched an uninteresting news segment with her aunt, Nanako had dismissed herself to her new room, where she set her alarm and then fell onto the futon without even getting changed.

* * *

[4/12: Tuesday]

Nanako felt better in the morning, though her mind felt... foggy...

She changed into her school uniform. Yasogami, huh? The symbol looked kind of like a peace sign or a biplane propeller. She supposed it was meant to resemble the letter Y. The scarf was yellow, and the jacket and skirt a very dark gray, almost black. Rather standard, really. She wondered how strict the teachers would be out here, what she could do to personalize the uniform and not get in trouble.

Well, she'd find out today and then figure out what to do tomorrow. Best not to rock the boat already.

Pfft. Yeah, right. She gave herself ten minutes before she spoke out of turn to a teacher or something. She knew herself. She took off the scarf and tied it around her left wrist. That would do for now.

She went downstairs and found her six-year-old cousin standing on a step stool in front of the stove and frying eggs.

Nanako stared at the bizarre sight for several long moments. Frying eggs. A six-year-old. "Ah, no!" she exclaimed when he picked up a spatula to flip them.

Souji heard her outburst and turned, blinking those gray eyes. "You don't... like eggs?"

"Uh, umm, where's your mom?" she asked.

"She's at work..."

Aunt Seta had already left for the day? There was no way this boy had enough autonomy to cook.

Or maybe he did, because he totally turned back to the stove and skillfully flipped the eggs and watched them sizzle in the pan. Then there was a 'pop' and the boy put the spatula down, got off the stool, moved it over two feet, and climbed it again to get to the toaster, which had just ejected two slices of toast.

He really was six, right? Aunt Seta didn't, like, forget his age or something?

More importantly, was this legal?

"H-here," she said, stepping in front of the stove before he could scoot the stool back. "I'll finish the eggs while you get ready for school, okay?"

"I'm already ready," he mumbled.

"Why don't you get the butter out for the toast, then?" she continued briskly.

He pointed to the counter, where the butter container already stood.

"Drinks?"

He nodded, opened the fridge, and pulled out a carton of milk. Then he took his step stool to a different area of the kitchen to pull down two glasses from a cabinet and poured milk into each.

They ate breakfast together, and Nanako decided it would be best to compliment the chef, right? "This is great, Souji-kun! Thank you!" she said with her mouth full of bread. _By the way, who the hell taught you to cook?_

Souji looked down at his plate and mumbled something. She hoped it was, 'You're welcome.'

"Hey, umm... Did you see your mom this morning?" she asked. _Does she know you cook? Did she tell you to cook for me?_

"She leaves before I get up..." he murmured.

"You walk to school by yourself?"

"...I'm a big boy..." He blinked a few times, still staring at his eggs.

"Let's walk together," Nanako said. 

It wasn't a suggestion.

* * *

It was raining, so Nanako had to spend a few minutes rummaging through the boxes of stuff still packed in her room to find her umbrella. It was a very bright pink umbrella. Beautiful and vibrant, like herself, or so she liked to think. It was also themed after Loveline. The handle had the wing-and-heart shape that was part of the magical detective's logo.

Souji had a smaller umbrella, a gray one, presumably to match his hair. Or maybe to match his attitude. He seemed rather... gloomy? That wasn't the word she meant to use, but it was what came to mind when she saw him with that umbrella. Solemn? Grave?

They exited the house and Souji locked the door behind them. Oh, damn, he was only six and a latchkey kid as well? Nanako had been given a key too, but he had beaten her to it.

Nanako stepped out into the very light rain and onto the road. She did a complete twirl, feeling energetic for some reason. A new day. Her first real day here—yesterday didn't count. It would be fun, right? She took in a deep breath of the fresh, rural air. Yeah, it smelled like damp earth. She liked it. It was much better than inner-city car exhaust, at least!

"Uh, which way?" she asked when the boy joined her. So tired last night, she hadn't even bothered to get directions to school. Wait, would the boy even know where the high school was? She might be in trouble. Oh, well, worst case scenario, she had her phone.

Fortunately, he did. "You go that way," he said when they reached a particular intersection.

"Well, I don't mind walking you the rest of the way to your school," she began, but he was looking down at his feet.

"It's okay..." he said softly. He started trudging down the road, splashing through a puddle, his gaze still firmly on the ground.

Nanako stared after him, barely suppressing the urge to skip school and take the boy out to an ice cream parlor or something. There was something radically wrong with this family. She'd have to figure it out. Find _something_ to cheer the boy up.

She continued on down the road. A sign labeled the area as the Samegawa Flood Plain. Flood plain, huh. If it rained a lot, then this area could get under water. In fact, she passed by a big warning sign explaining just that. Well, the current rain was just a drizzle. Even a month straight of this wouldn't cause flooding, she was sure.

While she walked down the road, she spied other students with the same uniforms walking far ahead of her in the same direction. Good, she could just follow them in. No worries about getting lost. She had a sudden thought: what if she got lost and ended up at the gas station? No matter where she went, she'd end up back there... No escape...

A boy on a yellow bicycle breezed by her. She watched as he struggled to steer and hold his umbrella at the same time. "Ah, watch out!" she called, but it was too late. He crashed headlong into a utility pole.

She considered running to check if he was all right, but he was able to get to his feet, though he was kind of doubled over in pain. Something told her not to get to get too concerned, and she trusted her instincts, so she just walked on past him.

The school was just a high school, which was unusual to her. Back in the city, the school she'd attended combined all three levels—elementary, middle, and high—on the same campus, though they were all in separate buildings. And Yasogami High seemed to be a rather small school, too, with only two main buildings and a gym. There turned out to be only three classes per level, a far cry from the six her old school contained.

She headed to the faculty office. Her homeroom teacher was Mr. Morooka, who, uh, well, he had a massive overbite. His teeth reminded her of Igor's nose, but Igor was way more fun than this man. Morooka was ranting to one of the other teachers about—something, she didn't catch what—and turned a baleful eye on her. He wore a blue pinstripe suit and a yellow checkered tie.

"What do you want, _young lady?_ I swear, if you waste one minute of my precious before-class time, I'll—Hneh? You're that transfer student aren't you? Well, well." Morooka put his hands in his pockets and eyed her. "Let me give you some ground rules—"

A school employee suddenly poked his head into the faculty office. "Morooka-san, class starts soon, so, uh, I was going to lock the door now."

"Yeah, yeah," Morooka grumbled. "Come along, girl."

Nanako followed Morooka out, watching him warily, but withholding judgment for now. Observation, her dad once said, is one of your most important skills. Don't jump to conclusions.

His destination was the aptly-named Classroom 2-2 on the second floor. Morooka took his place at the podium and launched into a rant about 'kids these days' being love-struck monkeys. Nanako stood off to the side and wondered if she was dreaming again or something. His dialogue seemed very stream-of-consciousness.

"Now then! We have some trash thrown out here from the big city." Was that... Nanako's cue? Yes, he was looking at her now. "You boys better not be thinking anything like 'she's easy' or wondering where she's been. I'd better not hear you hitting on her, you hear me? Tell 'em your name, girl, and don't waste any more of my time!"

After the gas station attendant yesterday, Nanako wondered if everyone in this town was creepy.

She ignored the content of his words and stepped forward with a brighter smile than she felt. "Hi. I'm Nanako Dojima. I'm from Tokyo. I'm—"

"Tokyo, huh?" Morooka interrupted. "So you've come all the way here to ogle our last few innocent boys and ruin them with your perverted big city ways?"

"I won't ogle any boys who ogle me first," she promised, flashing teeth. "Which pretty much eliminates everyone in this class."

The class reacted to that with some surprised curses and muffled laughter.

"'Pure as the driven snow,'" Morooka growled, quoting from his previous rant. "If you're going to act like a damned tease—"

Nanako decided it was high time she started screwing with people. Her day couldn't get any worse. "By the way," she spoke over the teacher, "I'm all the way out here because my family is being targeted by the yakuza!"

She paused dramatically, absorbing the gasps and whispers before declaring, "Nice to meet you!" with a wide smile and a wave.

Morooka spluttered in surprise at her insubordination, and then a short-haired girl wearing a green jacket raised her hand and asked if Nanako could take the seat next to her. Derailed, Morooka ordered her to 'siddown' and then went on about the lack of respect in youth today.

As she sat, the girl next to her whispered, "Welcome to Inaba, huh?" and winked at her. "We're stuck with him for a year. We'll just have to hang in there!"

* * *

"What you said about the yakuza... was that true?" Her new friend, Chie Satonaka, asked her while they were both in the restroom during the lunch break. They'd escaped there because Nanako was tired of answering questions about Tokyo.

"Nah," Nanako admitted easily. "It just sounded cool, right?"

"I'll say! You've got half the class thinking you're dangerous!"

"Who says I'm not dangerous?" Nanako said, placing a hand on her hip. "I want their names and addresses so I can show them the light."

Chie laughed. "I think this is going to be an interesting year. Even if we have to suffer King Moron."

"What is that guy's problem, anyway? Please tell me he's not always like that."

"Haha, well..."

A girl with a red sweater and matching hairband entered the bathroom. "Ch-Chie..." she said. "Do you mind coming with me? People keep asking me about that announcer."

Nanako whimpered. "Your hair..."

The newcomer ran her fingers over her long black hair. "Yes?"

"It's so beautiful!" Nanako stepped forward, then released her own hair from its clip and brushed it out for display. "I hate my own. So brown and boring... Yours is so sleek!"

The girl seemed embarrassed. "Well, thank you. You look familiar. Are you...?"

"Yukiko, this is the transfer student!" Chie said. "Her name's Nanako. She sits next to me, did you even notice?"

Yukiko looked downcast. "Ah, no, I didn't."

"It's all right," Nanako said. "It's actually kind of refreshing to have someone not so interested..."

"Nanako is from Tokyo," Chie went on.

Yukiko looked up with curious eyes. "Is that so...?" she murmured. Nanako almost backed away from the wistful expression on her face. So much for her not being interested!

"Haha, well, Tokyo is..." Nanako sighed. "Well, if we're gonna talk about that, we might as well return to class so everyone else can hear, too. Besides, it's lunchtime and I'm hungry!"

* * *

Because it was the first day, they didn't have normal classes. Before lunch there had been a welcoming ceremony in the auditorium, which proved to Nanako once and for all that this _wasn't_ a ghost town due to the number of students present, but after that, it was just an entire day of enduring King Moron's ranting. Right when school was about to let out, however, an announcement blared over the speakers, telling everyone not to leave the school. All teachers were called to the faculty office.

"Don't go anywhere," Morooka growled before leaving the classroom.

Nanako tensed in her seat. Trapped in the school on the very first day? She had just stopped thinking of survival horror scenarios, too! And dammit, she had been set to ask Chie to show her around town.

No one else seemed to be bothered by the situation, though. Mostly the students around her complained about ruined plans or speculated about what was going on. Then they heard the blare of sirens and people scrambled to the windows to get a good look.

Shortly after, another announcement declared that there had been an incident within the school zone.

Now some students were beginning to panic. "Wh-what's going on?" "Incident!?" "What's with the fog...?" "A-are we safe?"

Nanako stood up suddenly. "It's the yakuza!" she declared dramatically. "They found me already! Don't let them get me!"

"Y-yakuza!?" someone yelped. As if on cue, another set of sirens went by the school.

Several apprehensive sets of eyes looked upon her now, and then she laughed and explained that it was a joke.

"You almost had me going there, Nanako!" Chie said, shaking her head. "Sheesh!"

"You shouldn't joke about that," Yukiko murmured.

Another announcement rang out and exhorted the students to leave the school and head straight home.

"Well, I guess the incident is contained, whatever it was," Nanako said. She sighed. No zombies today... And straight home, huh? So much for exploring the town. Oh well, she had a whole year, anyway. Better save something to do for tomorrow.

While most of her classmates were filtering out of the room, Nanako checked her phone for messages. Nothing. She got up, stretched, and started walking towards the back door where she witnessed the event that would soon define her life.

"My Trial of the Dragon!" Chie screamed and let out a flying kick that hit a brown-haired boy right where it mattered. The victim emitted a dying squeal and crumpled to the ground.

"Chie!" Nanako gasped.

Chie looked embarrassed. "Oh, uh, I guess I shouldn't have done that in front of everyone, huh...?"

Nanako stalked forward and grabbed her by the wrist. "Who taught you that!? That was awesome!"


	2. Mayonaka

"I kind of taught myself," Chie said while they were walking down to the shoe lockers. "I love martial arts, so I practiced the moves I've seen in movies. It's not easy doing it from memory, though. I used to train in my room but my mom got upset when I kicked through the shoji."

"Parents, right?" Nanako said while putting on her walking shoes. "They'll never understand."

"Too true," Yukiko murmured her assent.

They walked out of the school's front doors, and Chie explained that the boy she had kicked had broken one of her favorite DVDs. "He'd better buy me a replacement. My _Trial of the Dragon!_ It was the special edition, too!"

"It's like no one has respect for property anymore!" Nanako agreed.

"I know, right?"

When they were passing the front gate, a boy approached them. He wasn't from Yasogami—he wore a suit with a private school's logo on the breast. The boy had large, dark eyes that reminded Nanako of fish. "Yuki," he said. "Y-you want to go hang out?"

Yukiko didn't seem to even know who he was. "Um, excuse me?"

"H-hang out, Yuki. Just you and me." The kid licked his lips nervously.

"Her name is Yukiko- _SAN_ to you, cumbag!"

The fish-eyed kid drew back when Nanako stepped forward. "I wasn't talking to you," he said.

"Hey, Chie," Nanako continued. "You'll get a demonstration on how well I can kick, if a certain creepy guy doesn't get out of my sight!"

"You'll regret that!" the kid said, but he scampered off anyway.

Nanako turned to find Yukiko in stitches of laughter. "N-Nanako," she gasped, "it's supposed to be _scum_ bag!"

"I said exactly what I meant."

"Aha, well, that was creepy, wasn't it?" Chie said.

"This whole town is full of creeps," Nanako commented. "Uh, present company excepted!"

"Yo, Yukiko-san!" The boy whom Chie had kicked earlier was walking his bike to the front gate. Apparently he had survived. Nanako realized he was the same boy she'd seen crash his bike before school. He had floppy brown hair, brown eyes, and wore orange headphones around his neck. She decided he must be more resilient than he looked. "Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" he said, sounding amused.

"Speaking of creeps," said Chie, then she laughed at the boy's expression.

"You're both cruel," he said. "I think I'll quit while I'm ahead... But hey, you're the transfer student, Nanako-san, right? I'm a transfer student, too!"

"If you want to quit while you're ahead, that's not how you do it," Nanako said, her hands on her hips.

"People are staring," Chie said. "Let's get going."

They started walking down the road, completely ignoring the bicycle kid. Nanako slowed for a moment, calculating. Their classroom was on the second floor, the windows were facing south, and the police sirens had been heading towards the back of the classroom, meaning they had been heading... this way. She tried to subtly steer her two new friends in that direction. Fortunately, it seemed to be the same way she had come into school, anyway, so she had an excuse.

They passed by a field growing some sort of produce in neat little rows. The rain had stopped, but the sky was blanketed by clouds of varying gray hues. They reminded her of her little cousin. She hoped his school wasn't affected by the incident.

"There really is nothing here, huh?" Chie said, interrupting her thoughts. "I think it's nice, but it might be boring to outsiders." She admitted that she and Yukiko had lived in Inaba their whole lives. "Yukiko's family owns the Amagi Inn. It's the pride of the town!"

Yukiko looked away. "It's just an old inn..."

Chie went on about how important the inn was to the little town, but all Nanako heard was _hot springs._ She'd have to plan a trip. Maybe Souji-kun would like that?

"So, uh, if the yakuza thing was a joke... Why did you transfer here, Nanako?" Chie asked.

"Family," Nanako replied. "Well, my mom's overseas. She plays the piano professionally, and my dad's really busy. He's a detective with the police. So... I'm staying with my aunt and little cousin for the year until my mom's concert tour is done."

"A whole year, huh? I couldn't imagine being so far away from my parents," Chie admitted.

Nanako didn't answer, though she felt Yukiko's interested gaze on her. She had mixed feelings on the move and didn't want to delve into them right then. Not until she'd been here a few more days, at least.

"Whoa, look at that!" Chie exclaimed. Ahead was a group of police cars blocking a side road complete with flashing lights.

Yesss, thought Nanako. They had gone in the right direction! She began to walk faster, and the two girls followed her lead.

Drawing closer to the makeshift barricade, Nanako spied the cop being hassled by a bunch of housewives and used her somewhat short stature to her advantage to sneak behind a police car and past him.

Where she wished she had been more observant because someone had barfed over here and she'd almost stepped right in it. Geez, where is that rain when you need it?

"Uh, Nanako, I don't think we—" she heard Chie whisper too loudly some distance behind her. Nanako waved a hand back at her, indicating that Chie should stay behind. She tiptoed forward until the crime scene was in sight.

Orange cones and police barricades had been placed haphazardly around a utility pole. A photographer was setting up a tripod and aiming the camera up at the top of the pole. There was nothing up there, just a tangle of utility lines. Some of the wires had been cut down.

On the ground were a couple of blue tarps and some boxes probably unrelated to the crime. A trio of officers who had yet to notice her were gathered around a conspicuous black bag...

And then she was caught.

"Hey... Hey!" shouted one of the three officers. He appeared to be a lieutenant. "What are you... Adachi! I told you not to let any civvies past here!" He waddled towards Nanako. "Excuse me, miss, but this area is off limits for the time being. If you need to get through, please use the next street over."

"Y-yeah," she said. "Who died?"

"We aren't prepared to release a statement," the lieutenant recited smoothly. Damn, he had played this game before. Well, he did look old. Experienced, rather. He had some years on Nanako's father, even. "Dammit, Adachi!"

"S-sir...?" a resigned voice behind her said. She turned to see a young policeman looking rather green about the gills approaching. His black hair was a little scruffy; he'd probably been rained on earlier. His eyes flickered to the body bag and then he began to have dry heaves. "S-sorry!" He covered his mouth and ran off.

The lieutenant shook his head. "Still a rookie... His old partner, may he rest in peace, would be giving him hell right about now. Anyway, miss. Allow me to escort you back."

* * *

"Someone died," Nanako reported to the girls once she rejoined them on the proper side of the barricade.

"Oh my god!"

"How awful..."

"I didn't get a good look," Nanako went on. "It was already in a body bag. Too bad."

"I'm not sure I'd want to see that," Chie admitted. "You must be naturally curious, huh? You didn't think twice about going past the barricade."

"Hey, I said my dad's a detective!" Nanako said. "So... yeah! Crime is fascinating. I wonder who died, and how... It could be murder, or suicide, or just an accident, or..." She noticed the somewhat horrified look on Chie's face and added, "or maybe it was the yakuza!"

That did the trick. Chie chuckled, although a little nervously. "Y-yeah... Nothing like murder has ever happened around here. I hope it's nothing too horrible."

"I guess I'll have to watch the news tonight!" Nanako said loudly, still a little overexcited by the prospect of a death in the small town. "Hey, Chie, Yukiko, will you show me around town?"

"Yukiko and I were heading to Junes," Chie said, "but after this, I'm not sure I feel like shopping..."

"They told us to head home," Yukiko added. "Perhaps we should?"

* * *

Nanako got a little lost on the way home, to her own private shame—come on, it's not that big a town! It was almost dark by the time she arrived at the Seta residence. Inside, she was happy to discover that her little cousin had made it there safely. Souji was at the tea table, hard at work at something.

She glanced at it while taking the spot across from him. "Man, homework on the first day? That's so not fair!" she declared. "We only had an assembly, and I'm in high school."

"It's cram school work..."

"You go to cram school? You're only six!"

Souji looked down at his work.

"You're only six," she repeated. Besides that, there was only one middle school out here, and it was public, so it wasn't like he had to pass some crazy entrance exam for it.

"...I like cram school..."

Unless Aunt Seta enrolled him just to keep him busy. She wasn't home yet, anyway, if that was any indication. If she often worked late, cram school acted like daycare. She wouldn't be the last mother to do such a thing.

Nanako watched him work for several minutes then decided she should unpack. She excused herself to her room and spent a long time going through all the boxes.

The room had a three-tiered shelf, and she placed her entire collection of Loveline manga on the top shelf for prominent display. Under that shelf she set her stuffed animals after speaking a few words to each of them. Sure, she was sixteen years old, but hey, Chan-chan the bunny had been with her for all of them!

The most boring and longest part was hanging up her clothes in the closet. She didn't have too much variety, really—she'd mostly be wearing the school uniform every day anyway. But on her few days out of school, she had some nice blouses and skirts ready to wear. And some shorts and slacks for when she wasn't in the mood for skirts.

"U-umm..."

She turned while holding a hanger and a maroon pleated skirt. "Souji-kun?" He was standing in the doorway. She hadn't closed the door.

"I got dinner..."

He _got_ dinner? She gave him an odd look, unsure what he meant, and then finished hanging up the skirt and followed him down to the kitchen.

There were three takeout boxes waiting for them on the table. Nanako stared. "Wait, did you leave the house to buy this?"

Souji nodded, then climbed up into the chair, opened his box, and began to eat.

She was trying to imagine him— _six years old!_ —going up to a food stall, ordering from the menu, and paying for it, too. Considering what she knew of him so far—he could cook—it was distressingly easy. The hardest part to imagine was him actually speaking loudly enough to tell the vendor what he wanted.

"Wh-what about your mom? Is she home yet?"

He paused with his chopsticks full of rice halfway to his mouth. "She's working late." 

Nanako nodded to herself. She was starting to get a bigger picture of how the Seta residence worked. It wasn't a pleasant picture, but there wasn't much helping it. A single-parent family with the only parent working long hours...

After they finished eating, Souji put the third box in the refrigerator, saving it for his mom to reheat later when she finally got home. Then they returned to their earlier spots at the tea table. Souji seemed to have finished his cram school work since the table was now bare aside from a juice box.

"Mind if I watch the news?" Nanako asked.

Souji didn't answer, but he had already turned his body to face the TV.

As she expected, the mysterious death was top news. The police had identified the victim now—Mayumi Yamano, local TV announcer, who was involved in some scandal. The cause of death was uncertain, and the police were still investigating. The newscasters went on to speculate about both suicide and murder since the state of the body was so unusual—strung up on a television antenna on someone's roof like it was on display.

I almost saw the body, Nanako thought. She'd seen the antenna, at least...

Across from her, Souji released a small whimper, and Nanako realized her curiosity had caused her to make a terrible mistake. The boy was trembling in response to the news. "Hey, Souji-kun," she crooned. "Come over here, sit by me." She patted the empty space next to her.

He blinked at her and hesitated for a long moment before scooting over to her side. She hugged him close before he could escape. "I'm sorry... My dad's a detective so I wanted to know more about this case."

He stared at her hand around his waist. "My dad was a detective..." he said, no more than a whisper.

Nanako stiffened and then hugged him even closer. She'd known this, and yet she'd still made such a thoughtless mistake. Uncle Seta hadn't even been killed in the line of duty or anything, he'd—

A weird sound derailed her thoughts. Souji was humming.

He was humming... the Junes theme? Oh, yeah, the news had gone to a commercial break.

She rubbed his back and then turned off the television. That was enough of that for tonight.

* * *

That night, right before bed, Nanako spent some time on the Internet using her cell phone to learn about Mayumi Yamano. Apparently a man named Taro Namatame had been having an affair with her. Disgraced by the scandal, Namatame had moved back to his hometown—which happened to be Inaba. Yamano had also been in town. She had been staying at the Amagi Inn.

Nanako thought it over. Not enough details yet. The police still hadn't decided the cause of death, anyway.

It was probably murder, though, she decided. If it was suicide, how'd the woman get on top of the roof like that? Nanako hadn't seen a ladder, and she doubted the police would have moved it if one had been there. Not when the cameraman was still taking pictures.

Maybe the culprit was Namatame's wife? The police were probably investigating that already.

Still, it was something to talk about!

_Dear Daddy,_

_I'm in my room in Auntie's house. She seems to be a busy woman. Her son is cute, but don't worry he's way too young for me, tee hee._

_School's fun. I made a friend who told me she can kick through walls! (well, only shoji)_

_Oh, and someone died and it's only my first day here! Don't worry I didn't do it. Neither did my friend, I promise!_

_What's that smell? It's my excitement! (evil laugh)_

_Hugs & Kisses_  
_Love_  
_Nanako_

She sent the same email to her mom, too. She'd get a kick out of her sense of humor.

That done, she changed into her pajamas—a pink one-piece with patterns of yellow and purple flowers—and then went to bed. Though her mind was active after that exciting day, her sleep was somehow dreamless.

* * *

[4/13: Wednesday]

When she woke up the next morning, she wondered if she might be in a time loop, because the day was starting out almost exactly the same as the previous day. She found Souji cooking eggs in the kitchen, and while he was flipping them, toast popped out of the toaster with a ding. She watched him once again move the stool to collect the toast...

To change the routine slightly, she let Souji cook the eggs while she poured the drinks. Spending time with him like this made her feel a little bit better after her mistake last night.

And it was drizzling again outside. "Here, Souji-kun," she said. She handed the boy her umbrella. It was a little larger than his own, but he should still be able to carry it.

"I already have one..." he murmured. He turned to the umbrella rack, but Nanako beat him to it.

"I want to use yours," she declared, taking it out with a flourish. "So you'll have to use mine!"

"But it's pink..." he said with a pout.

"Oh, you don't like pink? What color do you like?"

He blinked at her and didn't answer.

"Come on!" Nanako said. "You have to have a favorite color!"

"Favorite color...?" He frowned at the floor.

"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple," she sang in tune to something she'd learned in grade school. "It's a rainbow~"

Souji made an unhappy sound.

"Oh well." Nanako sighed. "You can tell me later. We gotta get to school!"

He opened the pink umbrella, though he looked very put out about it. He stared at the gray umbrella Nanako was holding during the entire walk to the intersection. She felt guilty for stealing it, now. She was just trying to have some fun with him!

At the intersection, instead of continuing on her own way, she watched him go until he was out of sight. Really, she hoped gray wasn't his favorite color.

Using an umbrella meant for a child wasn't the best idea she'd had. She walked faster in an attempt to get to school before she got too wet. Other students, too, were moving quickly, trying to get out of the rain.

A sense of deja vu enveloped her when bicycle boy went careening past her, again struggling with an umbrella. "Watch out!" she shouted, and then sighed as she watched the boy crash right into a trash can.

He was still in the trash can, trying rather unsuccessfully to get out, when she walked by. She paused for a moment to watch, and something told her she should help him... but he was a boy, so she didn't.

This was their first day of class, if yesterday's extended homeroom didn't count. Instead of ranting, Morooka actually lectured. He turned out to be their philosophy teacher. Other teachers rotated in throughout the day: Ms. Sofue, a history nut complete with Egyptian headdress, Mr. Kondo, who was the phys. ed. teacher and also doubled as the English teacher, and Mrs. Nakayama, the large-eyed math teacher who spent more time complaining about her husband than actually teaching.

After class, Nanako checked her phone and found that she had an email from Dad!

_Stay out of trouble._

She chuckled to herself. He knew her so well.

Oh, there was more.

_Be sensitive to your family. You know what I mean._

She swallowed. Y-yeah... She wished she didn't need that reminder but, hah, yeah, her dad really did know her well. And she'd already failed last night...

"Hey, umm, Nanako-san."

The boy who sat behind her was addressing her. She turned in her seat to face him. He was standing in the aisle between desks with his arms crossed.

"You tried to warn me when I crashed my bike this morning, didn't you?" he said. "I recognized your voice."

Ah, yes, floppy brown hair and orange headphones, this was bicycle boy all right. Nanako saw no reason to deny it. "Yeah, that was me." _That was also me not helping you get out of that mess,_ she thought somewhat guiltily.

"Well, I just wanted to say... Thanks for trying." He was giving her a somewhat-shy smile.

"Ah, well, you really shouldn't try to bike with an umbrella in your hand!" she advised. "That's just asking for trouble."

"I live too far to walk to school."

"Maybe you should get up earlier."

He chuckled lightly. "You got me there. Say, this might seem sudden, but... Wanna grab some lunch with me? Ah, ah, I don't mean anything by it! You know, just as thanks. For trying."

Nanako considered it. Going anywhere with any boy might not be a good idea. But on the other hand... free lunch!

"Yosuke-kun! Are you flirting with the new girl already!?"

Nanako turned her head to see Chie stalking swiftly forward.

"Asking her out to lunch when you haven't paid up for my broken DVD! Honestly!" Chie had her hands on her hips.

"H-hey!" said Yosuke. "Satonaka... I'll buy you lunch, too. How's that? A happy compromise, right?"

"Don't think you can make a satisfied customer out of me that easily!"

"I'll buy you steak," Yosuke added.

That was apparently what Chie was waiting for. "All right!" she declared. "Come on, Nanako! Let's go!"

* * *

The Junes building dwarfed those around it. It was two stories high but seemed taller due to its massive neon sign. Nanako could hear the theme music playing even from several buildings away.

"Aww, come on, the steak here probably isn't even real beef!" Chie complained when they were walking through the automatic doors at the entrance.

"Look, if I'm paying," Yosuke said, "we're going to use my store discount."

"So you can save 25 yen? Sheesh. Talk about a cheapskate, huh, Nanako?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

Nanako wasn't quite paying attention because _Junes._ There were several things she needed to acquire that she hadn't sent over from Tokyo. Nothing _really_ important—a mini flashlight, batteries, some extra school supplies, etc.—and oh! That skirt on display looked nice! Now that she was at the megastore, she kind of wanted to go shopping.

But it would have to wait. With a sigh, she let them lead her to the elevators and then the food court. They sat at a small round table and waited for Yosuke to bring them the steaks, which Chie continued to complain about even as she was stuffing her mouth.

Yosuke made some small talk about how he was also a transfer student from the city. His dad managed this particular branch of Junes, and as a result, Yosuke was sort of forced to work there part-time. Chie added that people had mixed feelings towards Junes because it competed with local business.

It was starting to get rather depressing, honestly, so Nanako decided she might as well segue it into something equally depressing but far more interesting to her. "So, about that announcer's death..."

"They say a student found the body," Yosuke contributed. "It was hanging from an antenna! Do you think maybe it was a warning?"

"What, like 'don't have affairs with married people or this happens'?" Nanako scoffed. She almost made an, 'It was the yakuza!' joke, but she had decided earlier in the morning to stop with that before it got old and she sounded like a broken record.

"You make it sound like an angry spirit did it or something. That's what my grandma thinks, anyway," said Chie through a mouthful of steak.

Nanako hmm'd. "Actually, you make it sound like it was murder."

"W-well, I don't know," Yosuke said, holding up his hands. "I'm just saying. There's no way something that weird could've been an accident. I mean, what was she even doing on the roof like that?"

"Maybe she was trying to fix the reception?" Chie suggested.

"In the middle of the night?"

"That wasn't even her house," Nanako added. "She was staying at the Amagi Inn."

"Oh! That's right!" Chie said. "No wonder Yukiko went right home from school. She probably has to help her family fend off a bunch of reporters."

"H-hey, it's Saki-senpai. Umm, I'll be back," Yosuke said. He stood up from the table and moved across the food court to another table, where he began to speak with a girl who had wavy light brown hair. She wore a Junes apron and seemed to be on her break.

"That's Saki Konishi. She goes to Yasogami, too. She's our senpai," Chie explained.

_Umm, yeah,_ Nanako thought. _That might be why he'd called her 'senpai.'_

They watched him speak with her for a bit. Then Chie commented, "I think Yosuke-kun likes her."

"Probably. He's got that 'I'm too nervous to make eye contact' thing going, doesn't he?" Nanako said.

Chie laughed. "Yeah, he does! It's kind of sweet though, isn't it?"

"I guess... Do they have anything in common besides working at Junes?"

"Uhh... I don't know," Chie admitted. "But you don't have to have much in common to like each other, right?"

Nanako thought of her own parents and decided that maybe she was right.

She eyed Saki warily—the upperclassman had stood up and was heading over to their table.

"So, you're Hana-chan's new friend, huh?" Saki said while taking in Nanako's appearance.

"Hana-chan?" Nanako asked.

"Oh, uh, umm, my family name is Hanamura, so..." Yosuke was blushing.

"He can be a bit of a pain, but you'll discover that he's a good guy once you get to know him," Saki said. "He doesn't have many friends, so I hope you'll get along."

Nanako puzzled that over. Something was off about the way she had said that. _Umm... Are you hoping that I'll try to steal him from you or something...?_

Nanako realized Saki was expecting a reply. "Well, I only met him today. I guess he sits behind me? I didn't really notice until he started talking to me."

"Yeah, he's like that." Saki laughed, a surprisingly merry sound.

"What does that even mean?" Yosuke asked, sounding a little sour at being talked about.

They ignored him. "By the way, Saki-senpai, how did you get your hair to be so wavy? It looks so soft, too...!" Nanako said, reaching out her hands but stopping herself before she went too far.

Saki fluffed up her hair with her fingers. She had nice long nails painted a light pink. "It's natural! My little brother has wavy hair, too. It runs in the family, I suppose! But... I wish it was straight like yours."

"Ah," said Nanako. "I think it's fate that we always hate the hair we have."

"Too true," said Chie. "I keep mine short because I don't like to deal with it, honestly."

"Whenever I want it straightened," Saki said, "I go to this place in Okina City. I'm sure they could do perms, too. It's called 'Uphairval' and it's behind the movie theater."

"Ooh, maybe I'll check it out!" Nanako said. She didn't know where exactly Okina City was, but she was sure she could find it on the Internet. Or ask Chie later.

"Mind if I...?" Saki said, reaching out for Nanako's hair. Nanako nodded, and Saki ran her fingers through it. "I think what you could use is a big ribbon. You need a bright color to emphasize the darkness of your hair."

"How about this?" Nanako said. She untied the school uniform's scarf from her wrist and handed it to her.

"Perfect," Saki purred. She tied it into Nanako's hair and then showed her how it looked in a compact mirror. "Yes?"

"Yes," Nanako agreed. "Thanks!"

"You know," Saki said conversationally, "I've always wondered what Hana-chan looks like with his hair natural."

"Dude, Senpai, no, it looks awful," Yosuke protested. "Especially when the roots come in."

"You dye your hair?" Chie exclaimed.

"What, like you don't bleach yours." Yosuke shook his head. "Come on, Chie!"

Saki stood up from her position behind Nanako. "Well, it was nice meeting you! But my break's over now. Back to the grind." She rolled her eyes and then sauntered back into the store.

Yosuke sighed as she walked away.

"Hey, Yosuke! Speaking of _love,_ " said Chie. "I heard this rumor..."

* * *

Because of how long she'd stayed out with Chie and Yosuke, plus her shopping trip after the two had left, Nanako was home even later than she had been yesterday.

To her surprise, Aunt Seta was home, still in her business suit, and she was entertaining a guest at the kitchen table. He was a man in a somewhat worn-out suit and red tie. He sat across from her at the table.

"Oh, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta said upon seeing her. "There you are. How was school? I see you went to Junes. Did you go shopping with a friend?"

Nanako glanced down at the Junes bag in her hand, and then returned her gaze to the stranger at the table. "Y-yeah, actually..."

_...Who's that?_

Aunt Seta noticed her curiosity. "This is Tohru Adachi, a friend of my late husband's. This is Nanako Dojima, my niece whom I've told you about."

"It's nice to meet you," Adachi said, smiling faintly. "I hear your dad's a detective. So am I. I've been in the force for almost a year now."

Ahhh. Nanako thought she'd recognized him. The cop who'd gotten sick at the crime scene yesterday.

Adachi scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well, I was only stopping by to make sure the Setas are doing okay. I should be heading out now." He stood up from the table.

"You know you are always welcome here," Aunt Seta said warmly.

Adachi chuckled and inched his way out.

Huh, thought Nanako. Was... Aunt Seta husband-hunting? Well, she could do worse than a policeman. Uncle Seta had died near the end of last year, though, so Nanako thought it might be a little bit too soon, really. It was only April, after all.

However, little Souji probably needed a father figure of some sort.

"A friend of your husband's?" Nanako asked, curiosity too much to bear.

"Yes, his partner on the force, actually. When Adachi-san was transferred here, he was assigned under him."

 _Be sensitive to your family._ Dad's warning rang in her mind. It wasn't time to ask about it. She could tell by the reminiscent look on her aunt's face. It was slowly morphing into sadness. Nanako thought fast on what she could do to change the subject, and then realized she was still holding the Junes bag. "Oh, Aunt Seta! Look what I found on sale today!" She brought out a set of colorful hair clips. "And I got this for Souji-kun!" It was a coloring book and set of crayons. The point of this was actually to see what color Souji favored, but her aunt didn't have to know that.

"That's very nice of you, dear. I'm afraid Souji has retreated to his room. He gets nervous when Adachi-san is around. Seeing him reminds him of..." She cut herself off abruptly and her face looked ashen.

"Y-yeah, I understand," Nanako said quickly. "Uh, I think I'll put these things in my room..."

Aunt Seta nodded.

However, Nanako didn't go to her room. She went to Souji's room. The door was closed and she paused for a moment in front of it.

What would Souji be doing alone in his room? Sleeping already? Cram school work? Or just sort of sitting there, hugging a toy? Man, all those options sounded sad.

Without further consideration, she opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.

Souji was sitting on the floor, holding the closed Loveline umbrella in his hands. Startled by her entrance, he dropped it and it rolled towards her. She picked it up and idly turned it over in her hands.

He opened and closed his mouth, silently asking what she was doing here.

She dropped to the ground in front of him. "Souji-kun! I went shopping and I got something for you!" She pressed the coloring book into his hands. The theme was dinosaurs because all kids love dinosaurs, right? "Here, I got crayons, too!" She opened up the crayon box and showed it to him.

He looked overwhelmed.

"Here," she said. "What's your favorite dinosaur?" She flipped through the pages in the book and showed him each one. "T-rex, right? Or maybe the long-neck one? Uh, I forget the name! Let's color one together, okay? Pick one, pick one!"

"Uh, umm... I like..." He lowered his gaze. "The ptero..."

"Ptero... oh! The flying one?"

He nodded.

"I think I saw one!" She flipped through the book and found the page with a pterodactyl on it. She tore out the page and handed it to him. "Hey, do you mind if I take the stegosaurus? I always liked that one because it has spikes on its tail!"

Souji didn't answer, so she went ahead and tore that one out for herself. Now the boy was sort of just looking at the paper in his hands. She sighed and then carefully pushed him over to his short work table, put the paper on it, and then placed the crayon box next to him. When he still made no move, she took out a crayon at random—forest green—and put it in his hand and started making him color until he finally began to work on his own.

Then she took a seat across from him and started coloring her stegosaurus.

"You know, Souji-kun," she began conversationally while coloring the spines a vibrant purple, "dinosaurs aren't around anymore. What's the word for that...?" She pretended to think.

"Eh...exti...nct," he mumbled.

"Yeah! That's it. I forget what happened to them, though."

"M-meteor... It was a meteor."

Nanako looked surprised. "Oh, yeah! Isn't that sad? A great big rock from space, and then no more dinosaurs?"

Souji didn't answer—he was too preoccupied by coloring his pterodactyl. He'd even switched colors without Nanako's prompting and was now using a dark red.

Nanako's dinosaur was a bit bigger, so she colored it quickly to keep pace with him. He still beat her, though, because she began to combine colors to shade the body. It was probably the ugliest stegosaurus ever—its back spines were alternating pink, purple and yellow, and the body was both pink and green, but she didn't really care as she put on the finishing touch by giving it a big smile.

While she was still working, she hadn't quite noticed that the boy was staring rather wistfully at his pterodactyl. "I wish the dinosaurs were still around," he suddenly whispered.

She paused, and then she put her hand over his. "Me too."

* * *

When Nanako returned to the living room later, she found that her aunt was watching the news from the couch. Nanako took a spot at the tea table and watched the end of the segment with her.

A boy was being interviewed, but his face was blurred and his voice distorted so that he sounded kind of like an otherworldly demon. It made Nanako hunch her shoulders. "I dunno," he was saying, "when I saw her hanging there, I figured it was suicide. That scandal, you know."

"Ah, so you recognized the body as soon as you saw it?"

"Who wouldn't? She's all over the news."

Aunt Seta sighed. "Do you want to keep watching this, Nanako-chan? It's so... morbid."

Nanako told her she could turn it off.

She expected her aunt to try and make some small talk, but she didn't. Instead, she flipped open her phone and sighed again. Not long after, she told Nanako that she was going to retire early since tomorrow was going to be another busy day for her at the office.

Nanako nodded. She expected this would soon become a theme.

* * *

Alone in her room, Nanako put on her pajamas, got into her futon, and sighed because she knew she wasn't going to fall asleep very easily. She knew Chie was going to ask her about whether she'd tried it out or not.

'They say that if you're alone and watch a turned-off TV at midnight on a rainy night, you'll see your soulmate on the screen!' 

She considered just going to sleep and lying about it in the morning, but she didn't enjoy lying all that much except when she was feeling vindictive or when she was in real trouble. Loveline's catchphrase was Truth and Justice, anyway...

She checked her phone's clock, shading her eyes against the blinding light the screen produced. By the time she'd finished her homework this evening, it was already a little past eleven, so it wouldn't be _too_ long...

She set her alarm for 11:55 just in case she fell asleep and rolled over in her futon, but she didn't need it. A few minutes before midnight, she shuffled herself out of bed and in front of the TV and waited rather impatiently. Yep, nothing happening. It was probably just people seeing their own reflection. Were people that dumb? Or that desperate for love?

She turned away and cursed herself for not being logical about this when suddenly the TV turned on, accompanied by the sound of static. A silhouette appeared on it—and it wasn't her own reflection. It seemed to be male. The hair was short, somewhat wavy. She squinted and then the TV turned off before she could draw any further conclusions.

Huh, she actually had a soulmate? That was—

She hissed and clutched her head as pain suddenly shot through it.

_I am thou..._

Nanako moaned and twisted her body.

_Thou art I..._

She pounded her feet, but it wouldn't stop.

_Thou art the one who opens the door..._

The pain faded, but... what door, what the hell...?

The TV was off. It was off. She'd never once turned it on, and...

She reached out to touch the screen, not knowing what possessed her to do so. The screen rippled at the touch, and she felt less resistance than should be there. It was supposed to be solid glass...! Her hand went right through the screen. Something on the other side grabbed her hand and tried pulling her in.

Instinctively she fought against it, flailing her free hand around the TV's frame so that she couldn't be pulled in—at least, not without her arm snapping off. She worried that was going to happen when, suddenly, whatever it was gave up, and she went flying backwards onto her work table.

She rubbed her head where it had hit the table and winced. Damn, she was going to have a goose egg tomorrow.

She stared at the TV. As if mocking her, it now only showed her reflection.

Her mind was trying to tell her that hadn't just happened, but she knew better than to believe it. It was just that her mind had come up with absolutely no logical explanation, so it had simply given up altogether.

She... had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. She kept wanting to touch the screen to see if it would happen again.

_I'm the one who opens the door? What door? And what's with that 'ye olde' language...?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Rule #1
> 
> Nanako's new friends learn the hard way that she should be taken seriously.


	3. Rule #1

[4/14: Thursday]

It was raining yet again the next morning. This town might not be a ghost town, but it was decidedly gloomy.

Nanako handed Souji his gray umbrella, and though he took it, he kept staring at her Loveline umbrella. She moved it from one hand to the other and his eyes followed it. "Souji-kun, would you like to use my umbrella again?"

The boy's pale face colored. She barely had time to notice it before he was looking down at his feet. He shook his head.

"Are you surrrre? I really don't mind. Almost everyone at my school uses the transparent ones so I kind of stick out with this."

He looked up at her hopefully. She handed it to him without a word, and then gently took the gray umbrella out of his unresisting hand.

She stepped out into the rain and opened the gray umbrella. "There... now I have a little bit of Souji-kun with me at school!"

He looked embarrassed. It was adorable.

"Say, Souji-kun. Do you watch Loveline?" she asked while they were walking to the intersection.

He didn't answer.

"It's my favorite," she admitted. She quoted a line from it: "'We're on the case!'"

She stopped in her tracks. The boy was smiling. It was faint, but he was smiling while he looked up at the silly pink umbrella.

She almost squealed and gave him a hug.

This Sunday, she vowed, running to catch up to him, we will watch the new episode of Loveline together.

* * *

The school was abuzz with gossip over the announcer's death. Nanako was interested at first, but it soon became clear that no one had any facts.

"Y-yo, umm... Nanako-san..."

"Hmm?" Nanako turned in her desk to face Yosuke, who was standing next to his desk with his arms crossed, and boy, did he look pretty awful, like he hadn't had much sleep at all. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair hadn't been combed. Maybe his TV had done a number on him, too.

"It's not important, but, last night, on the TV, I..." He looked away and didn't look back. "N-nevermind. It's too weird..."

Nanako opened her mouth to reply, but Chie suddenly ran up. "Hey Yosuke!" she said. "I heard Saki-senpai and her little brother were the ones who discovered the body."

"No wonder Saki-senpai's been so down lately," Yosuke remarked, sounding mournful. "You know, I think she skipped class today."

"By the way, did you try it?" Chie asked, just as Nanako had predicted. "The Midnight Channel?"

"Yeah, my TV tried to eat me," Nanako replied. "Did yours?"

Chie laughed and Nanako realized that she thought it was a joke. "What I saw... Well, there was a guy on there. But I don't know who it was. Yosuke, did you see anything?"

"Huh? Oh... No."

Nanako narrowed her eyes. Yosuke was avoiding eye contact. He was lying.

"Well, the guy I saw had kind of short, wavy hair," Nanako said.

"Hey, mine too!" Chie exclaimed. "Wait, do we have the same soulmate? Does this mean I have to fight you for it?"

"Nah," said Nanako. "I'm thinking: threesome."

Chie laughed in astonishment. "Ah, I don't think I know you well enough to share like that..."

"Wh-wh..." Yosuke began and then shortly stopped.

"Hmm?"

"Wh-what about... f-foursome?"

"There's no way we'd include you, Yosuke!" Chie yelled, making a fist.

"Th-that was a j-joke!" Yosuke stepped back instinctively from her wrath.

Nanako eyed him shrewdly. "Are you saying... you saw the same guy too?"

"Y-yeah..." he admitted. His eyes were downcast and his face a little pink from embarrassment.

"Huh," said Chie, and that's all she had to say.

"But both of you—your TVs didn't try to eat you?" Nanako queried. "And you didn't hear any weird voice about opening doors?"

"What do you mean, try to eat you?" Yosuke asked.

"I touched the screen and my hand went through! And then something tried to pull me in."

"I'm pretty sure you're pulling my leg right now," Yosuke said. "Yakuza girl."

"Oh god, are people calling me that now? I suppose that's my own fault." Nanako sighed. "But I'm not lying! I'll show you right now! Where's the nearest TV?"

"You know, Junes has some really big TVs," Chie remarked. "I bet you could go all the way in."

"Yeah, sure!" Nanako said. "Let's do it!"

Chie and Yosuke exchanged indulgent glances, and in the face of their disbelief, Nanako felt her determination grow. She stood up and marched out of the room, not even waiting to see if they would follow.

* * *

Nanako stood back with her hands on her hips while the two inspected the biggest TV on display. "Yep, solid glass," said Chie.

"Or whatever they're made of nowadays," said Yosuke. "Some of them feel like plastic."

"Has to be plastic. It's from Junes," Chie teased.

"That's not going to stop you from buying one from here, isn't it?"

They bickered some more until Nanako interrupted. "Are you done making fun of me?"

"I dunno," said Yosuke, turning towards her. He crossed his arms in front of the large TV. "It's kind of—h-hey!"

Nanako pushed him back until he fell all the way through the TV's screen.

She turned away and dusted her hands off with satisfaction. It was the easiest way to show them both, really, and served as a little bit of payback for not believing her.

What was the worst that could happen...?

"H-holy cow!" Chie gasped. "Wha—Where'd he go?" Chie looked behind the TV and called for Yosuke, but there was no answer. "Uh, umm, Nanako...! He's... he's not coming back out."

"Give it another minute," Nanako told her.

They waited a minute. They waited two minutes. On the way to three, it was too much for Chie. After psyching herself up, she touched the screen herself, but it was solid. "Wh-why can you do it and not me? M-maybe he needs you to bring him back? N-Nanako...!"

"You have a point," Nanako admitted. "He might be stuck on the other side. Well, you wanna come with?"

Chie gaped at her and then looked at the TV. Before she could say anything, Nanako pushed her in and then jumped in after.

* * *

Nanako wished she could say that she landed gracefully onto her feet. She didn't, but she managed to turn the awkward fall into a painless tumble.

She took stock of where she was. Yellow. The place was very... yellow. And foggy, too. They were on some sort of center stage, like for a TV show. Metal catwalks led off into the distance, obscured by the fog. There were chalk outlines drawn on the floor. Like a crime scene...

"Yosuke!" Chie shouted, nabbing her attention.

The boy was cowering in the fetal position on the floor. "Ch-Chie?" He lifted his head up and looked incredibly relieved to see them. Well, except for Nanako. "You-you threw me in here! Th-there's no way out!"

"Have you looked?" Nanako asked, placing a fist on her hip and tilting her body.

"No...?"

"I don't blame you," said Chie. "This place is seriously creeping me out. What is it? Some TV studio?"

"Makes sense, I guess," said Yosuke. "We're in a TV, after all. We're in a TV." He repeated it like a mantra several more times. "Nanako-san, why are we in a TV?"

"I guess I opened the door like that voice said." She put a hand to her chin. "Well, we aren't going to figure anything out by staying here. Let's explore."

"Yeah." He shot her a strange look and then nodded. "You're right. This place... Why is there fog in a TV?"

"It's pretty thick, too," Chie noted. "Which way?"

Nanako chose a direction at random and headed off.

After a very long walk—so long that they almost stopped to go back—they found some sort of apartment building. Every door they tried was locked, but the door on the farthest end was wide open. Without making any fanfare of it, Nanako walked right in.

There was a bed, a fridge, a potted plant, and a chair. What drew Nanako's attention were the dozens of posters on the wall. The posters were of the same woman, and in each one, her head had been scratched completely off. It was kind of horrific, like this was a crime scene and the criminal had been psychotic or obsessed with one particular woman. The red and yellow paint splatters all over the walls did little to change that opinion.

"That kind of arrangement is never good," Yosuke commented.

Huh...? Oh.

Above the chair was a scarf acting as a noose.

Nanako hadn't even noticed that. Her powers of observation still needed some improvement.

"Yikes," she murmured. Was someone around here thinking of suicide...? W-well, who else would be around here? What was this place, anyway? And why was she continuing to think in terms of crime scenes?

"Argh, I can't take it anymore!"

When Nanako turned to look, Yosuke was doing the infamous 'have to pee' dance.

"Oh, just go in the corner," she told him. "I don't think anyone is living here anymore anyway. The bed hasn't been used... ever, as far as I can tell."

"Eww, gross!" Chie protested when Yosuke actually moved to the corner.

Yosuke whimpered and looked over his shoulder. "I won't do it with you two watching—!"

"Just whip it out and go," Nanako said. "Guys are so lucky. You can pee anywhere!"

"Just whip it out...!?" Yosuke yelped.

"I don't want to see that!" Chie cried.

"Well, neither do I, actually," Nanako admitted. "Let's give him some privacy."

Nanako left the apartment. She looked over the railing, but couldn't see much of anything through the thick fog. She was starting to feel a bit ill... She stepped away from the railing before she got too dizzy and fell over.

"We still don't know how to get home," Chie said, joining her outside the apartment.

"Yeah, that is a problem... Let's go back to the... uh... starting point?"

They started the long journey back without Yosuke since he was taking so long. A few minutes later, they heard him running somewhere in the fog behind them, so they slowed until he caught up. Nanako noted his faintly relieved smile upon seeing them, which prompted her to remark, "Feel better now?"

"Y-yeah..." he admitted. "I'm good. And I'm ready to go."

They eventually made it all the way back to the stage, and Nanako took some time to investigate it more thoroughly. The outlines on the stage floor weren't done in chalk; they seemed to be painted on as some sort of avant-garde art or something. White and black rings were painted on the ground, too, originating from the stage's center. It looked much like a target. Well, it was where they'd fallen in. She wondered if other people had fallen in, and then got lost in the fog...

"Any luck?" Yosuke asked after a few minutes. He'd tried circling the stage, but apparently he hadn't found anything.

"I'm thinking of climbing up on the catwalks," Nanako told him. "Maybe we can turn a spotlight on or something."

"Yeah... I'm not sure I want to volunteer for that. But I can help you up."

"You just wanna look up my skirt."

"N-no, I didn't mean that. I'm just tired all of a sudden." Yosuke wasn't lying; he looked tired, too.

"I was just teasing." Nanako tried to smile at him reassuringly but she was starting to feel it herself. Chie was already sitting down with her legs stretched out in front of her on the chalk outlines, and Nanako thought she might join her.

Then Yosuke's body tensed up. "Th-there's something there!"

Nanako turned and Chie got to her feet. A shape appeared in the fog and moved towards them. It was large and round and... the silhouette looked like _a freaking bear!_

"Guys, run!" Nanako shouted.

"Run? Where?" Yosuke cried, glancing around them.

The apartment had been a dead end, so...

"Just... follow me!" She grabbed his hand and yanked him behind her, and let go when he got the idea. "Chie, come on!"

"R-right!"

They rushed headlong into the fog, with the bear or whatever it was right on their tail. Nanako wasn't sure it was a bear anymore because it made this _sweep-swash_ sound and she had no idea what animal on this earth would make such a noise. Maybe, maybe it wasn't of this earth.

And then it started talking at them.

"Grr! If you're running, you must be guilty! You must be the ones throwing people in here!"

"Nanako-san! It really wants you," Yosuke gasped. He followed it with a very desperate laugh.

"Rawr! You admit it!?"

"Sh-shut up and run!" said Nanako.

They ran for what seemed like a very long time but was probably only a couple of minutes. Then the creature spoke again, sounding worried. "S-stop!" it cried. "Don't go that way! Oh, why are you going that way?"

Nanako caught Yosuke's eyes, and then Chie's. They nodded and continued in that direction. If their pursuer did not want them to go there, that meant it was the perfect place to go.

"Th-the Shadows are that way! The strongest ones I've seen! Oh, don't go there!"

As they continued, the color of the fog gradually changed from yellow to a soft periwinkle. The fog also seemed thicker here, and Nanako noticed that the floor had changed. It was now formed of large red tiles framed in black. She slowed while panting to catch her breath. Yosuke stayed behind her and turned to face the direction they had come, his fists raised, as if he might try to protect them from whatever was after them, but Nanako could tell he was trembling. She was glad he had peed earlier.

"This place looks familiar," she said. "I think... I think we can stop running." She no longer heard the sweep-swash sound. They were no longer being followed.

"Familiar how?" Yosuke asked between gasps for breath.

"I had a dream and I think I was here... Well, I remember lots of fog. It was just the other night, my first night here in Inaba. I remember a voice." But she didn't quite remember what it said. And her hands felt empty. A naginata, yeah, she'd had that, and she'd attacked something in the fog with it...!

Something stirred within her. _I shouldn't be here._ She paused. _Not yet, anyway._

"You said you heard a voice last night, when you watched the TV," Yosuke remarked. "Was it the same one?"

She shook her head, but with all the fog, he probably couldn't see it, so she said, "No. I'm not sure, but—"

She shuddered as a wave of pure malice suddenly hit her.

"N-Nanako?" Chie's voice quavered. The girl took hold of Nanako's arm for support. She must have felt it too; this place was dangerous. "Y-Yosuke, are you still there?"

"Y-yeah, but I can't really see either of you with all the fog around us. It's... Nanako-san... It's getting hard to breathe, too."

"Do you think we should go back?" Chie asked.

No one answered. The unspoken question: which way is back?

The fog swirled around them, and the periwinkle color was gradually darkening into an ominous deep purple.

"Nanako-san, you're really from Tokyo, right?" Yosuke asked. "Uh, just checking."

"Y-yeah," she said. "I really don't know why I could go into the TV. I just could. I swear I've touched TVs back home and nothing like this has ever happened."

"I... I don't know if that's reassuring," Yosuke said honestly.

There was a strange scraping sound like metal-on-metal in the distance, and it was starting to get closer. The almost overwhelming feel of imminent danger grew with it.

"Yosuke, Chie..." Nanako said. "I'm sorry for bringing you here. I'm really, really sorry."

Although they didn't answer, the air was thick with tension—but it was perhaps not as thick as the fog.

With the sound of flapping wings, the fog was temporarily driven away, which revealed a dozen or so different monsters facing them, including several large eagles, the source of the sudden wind. A military tank, a giant hourglass, a beetle the size of a car, a flying book, a couple of cherubs with bows and arrows, a statue of an arm carrying a sword, and... more, Nanako didn't have time to see because suddenly the things were charging towards them.

Yosuke squeaked, his knees banging together in fear, but he tried to put himself in front of Nanako and Chie as the horde came upon them.

Then the familiar sweep-swash rang out, and there was a red and blue bear... _thing_ between them and the monsters. It twirled, and a stack of three televisions appeared in front of it. "H-hurry!" it shouted, waving its stubby arms. "Go in there, escape!"

They needed no further encouragement. Nanako pushed Chie and Yosuke in, and an arrow whizzed over her head while she was struggling to get herself through. The bear came to her aid, pushing her swiftly into the screen, and she barely managed to thank the creature before her head went through.

* * *

They collapsed in a heap in Junes' electronics department and laid there gasping on the floor for several minutes, not caring if anyone came upon them and wondered what they'd been doing to become so exhausted.

"Nanako," Yosuke moaned while pulling himself slowly up to his feet. "Please never do that to me again."

"Yeah, I think I've learned my lesson," Nanako replied. "Rule #1: No pushing people into TVs."

Chie got up and started talking about posters and enka singers, but Nanako was too tired to even listen anymore. All she could think about was her futon and how far away she was from it right now. She began to shuffle towards the elevator in a zombie-like manner, counting down each step. The others followed after her, equally exhausted and equally uninterested in talking about what had just happened.

When Nanako got home, she struggled to eat the takeout yakisoba Souji had bought for her. Whoa, was she so late that her dinner was this cold? How long had they been inside that TV? The events of the day seemed so unreal now.

"Are you okay?" Souji asked her after watching her struggle with the chopsticks. His gray eyes were big with concern. Despite the circumstances behind the exhaustion, she was happy to see that he cared about her.

"Feeling a little sick," she admitted. "Maybe it's the rain."

She finished the yakisoba and somehow found the strength to put the takeout box in the trash. When she made to go upstairs, though, Souji stopped her. "H-here," he said, holding out a small bottle. She took it and blinked at the label. Cold medicine.

"Thanks," she told him, pulling off a smile that she didn't feel, even though she really was grateful. "I think I'm going to bed early."

He nodded. "Get better..."

She patted him on the head before climbing the stairs to her room. Ugh, were there really so many steps...? She shuffled past the work table and collapsed into bed without changing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Perso-what-now?
> 
> Nanako and a friend revisit this 'TV World' to investigate further.


	4. Perso-what-now?

[4/15: Friday]

The next morning, Nanako felt much better, but still a little queasy. She wondered how the other two, Chie and Yosuke, were faring with what happened yesterday, and worried a little about facing them in class. What exactly did they think about it all? Did they blame her? Would they believe her when she said she had no answers? Worst of all, what if they wanted to forget about it and pretended like nothing had happened?

She tapped the TV screen in her room, and she could definitely still put her hand through it. It hadn't all been a dream or a drug-induced trip caused by the steak at Junes. Yesterday had indeed happened.

She idly checked her phone and remembered Dad's message from yesterday. _Stay out of trouble._

Dad, she thought while she stared at the phone, I don't even know anymore.

Well, Nanako was pretty good at rolling with the punches, so to speak, so she pocketed the phone and headed downstairs to face the day.

Though usually she was the one doing the punching.

* * *

Students exchanged rumors on the way to school, but, lost in her own thoughts, Nanako didn't really pay attention. She didn't see Yosuke crash his bike, either, but that could have been because she was running a little late. She tended to move slower when she was in a pensive mood like this.

In fact, Nanako was barely on time for class. Morooka tsk tsk'd at her while she walked to her desk. Chie was already seated and said nothing when Nanako approached. Yosuke, too, was giving her a strange look, one she couldn't identify, as she sat down in front of him.

"You okay?" Nanako whispered to Chie when the teacher was busy with a lecture on Buddhism.

"Y-yeah," Chie replied. "I think so, anyway. I think I'll stay away from TVs for a while." She smiled, though it looked a little strained. "I'm more worried about Yosuke."

Nanako turned her head, but it was hard to get a good look at the boy behind her. Yosuke's head was down, flat against the desk, though his hand was active and moving as he pretended to write stuff down so as not to attract the teacher's attention.

She'd have to talk to him during the next break.

Nanako turned back to Chie. "About that—" she began.

"Dojima!" Morooka called. "Since your mouth is already open, answer me this. What are the three higher trainings of the Eightfold Path?"

"Bluh," Nanako began eloquently before she spied the answer on the board behind him. "W-wisdom, conduct, and concentration!"

"Good, you can read," Morooka replied, rolling his eyes. "And which factor would you say you are violating when you talk in class?"

"Right speech," she murmured, blushing despite herself. "Because talk shouldn't be idle."

"That's right. Words are important, my dear," he said softly. "Eh, that's enough, Dojima. Sit down."

Chie gave her a thumbs up as she took her seat.

* * *

When lunch finally came, Nanako turned to Yosuke and asked him how he was holding up. He looked even worse than the previous day, actually—his eyes were bloodshot and there were heavy rings under them.

"Umm, actually, did either of you watch," – he paused and glanced at the other students eating lunch in the classroom, and then lowered his voice a little – "the, uh, TV last night?"

"I was way too tired after our adventure," Nanako replied. "I went straight to sleep. And I didn't dream of anything, as far as I can remember. Thank god for that, right?" She smiled with more enthusiasm than she felt.

Chie chipped in by saying she also slept like a rock.

"I couldn't sleep," Yosuke said. "It was raining, so I stayed up and watched it at midnight. It was... It was Saki-senpai's little brother, Naoki Konishi. He looked like he was writhing in pain. Then he disappeared from the screen."

"That's... pretty weird," said Nanako, not sure what to make of it.

"I think he's the same person who was on the night before, too. The one we all saw."

"Oh! You might be right," said Chie. "He did have the same kind of look that Naoki-kun has."

"Wavy hair?" That's all Nanako could contribute, since she had never seen Naoki before.

They entertained some ideas as to why he might be on the mysterious Midnight Channel. They decided he probably wasn't their soulmate.

Then the school answered the question for them. An announcement rang out in the middle of their afternoon classes, calling all teachers to bring their students to the auditorium for an unplanned assembly.

After everyone was shuffled into the rather small auditorium—it lacked chairs even for teachers—the principal, a sagely-looking old man with an impressive white beard, announced that Naoki Konishi had passed away early in the morning. He gave no details, only exhorted the students to support the Konishi family and aid the police if they had any information.

The students, however, had a field day with rumors and speculation. Nanako sifted through them for the facts and discovered that Naoki had died in a manner eerily similar to the announcer lady, Mayumi Yamano.

Nanako put her hand on Chie's arm. "We have to go back."

"Huh?" Chie looked up from her phone. "Back where...? Oh, there? Nanako... I don't know..."

"He showed up on TV, and then he died. I can go into TVs. I think there's a connection." Okay, maybe it was tenuous at best, but...

To her relief, Chie agreed. "Y-yeah, actually. I heard someone say they saw the announcer on the Midnight Channel a few days ago, and she's dead now, too."

"And that room we found was related to Ms. Yamano," Yosuke added. "You remember those posters."

"What posters?" Nanako asked, and Yosuke reminded her that the posters in the apartment with the faces cut out were of the enka singer who was Taro Namatame's wife. Ms. Yamano might have resented the woman for being married to her lover.

"Oh, right." Nanako nodded. "Well, then. We're in agreement, right? We're going back in."

"W-whoa, I'm not sure," Chie protested. "I mean... Well, I was going to do something with Yukiko today, but she already texted that she's busy... I guess we could go back, but that place seems like it's dangerous! You remember those... those... whatever they were!"

"And what was with that bear?" Yosuke mused. "It saved us, even though it was chasing us. Honestly, I'm not sure what's going on, but... We can't ignore this, can we? I mean, only Nanako can go in, right?"

"Right. It's like my duty now!" Nanako made a fist and held it up. _We're on the case!_

* * *

They headed straight for Junes, and Nanako split the team to collect supplies from different areas of the store before meeting up at the electronics department. Chie was to find some travel-sized water bottles and snacks, in case the trip took longer than expected, and Yosuke was to find a survival kit and maybe some sort of weapon.

Nanako herself... She went to the electronics section ahead of them to brood in front of the TVs. She touched each and every one, and she found that all of them could be entered. It was quite puzzling that she had this power. She was trying to remember the last time she'd touched a TV screen without her hand going through, and came up blank. Probably back home in Tokyo. She'd dusted the TV screen in the living room whenever her parents asked her to help clean.

She was wondering if she should ask her parents if this ran in the family or something when both Yosuke and Chie showed up together. Apparently they'd met each other at the elevator. Chie had a small duffel bag full of supplies and Yosuke carried a golf club in one hand and a portable first-aid kit in the other.

He also had a rope tied around his waist. Nanako asked him about it.

"Umm, well," he answered, "I thought that someone—well, Chie, actually—could stay behind and hold the other end so that we have a lifeline to get back out of there."

Nanako tilted her head to consider this idea. It took her some time to respond, and Yosuke stuttered and tried to further explain his reasoning, but she cut him short. "No, you're right. We need a way back out. But I'm thinking I want Chie with me."

"Uh, I'm fine with not going in!" Chie said.

Nanako looked at her. Chie had seemed reluctant earlier, that was true. "Yeah, but you know some kung fu. I might need that in there. Yosuke, do you know how to bring a man to his knees with a well-placed kick? No, I didn't think so." Yosuke began to protest, but Nanako headed him off. "Besides, you already have the rope tied around you. It's perfect. You'll be our anchor to the real world."

"I'd rather come with..." he said, looking forlorn.

"You were very brave yesterday," she told him. "But this is an important job, too."

"Y-yeah, I know..."

She took the golf club from him and tested it out as a weapon, very careful not to swing near any TVs, though she saw Yosuke wince anyway. It didn't feel quite right, but it would do for now. "All right, Chie. Let's go."

Nanako took the first-aid kit and the free end of the rope from Yosuke and guided Chie towards the TV.

The two of them landed right where she had hoped: the same TV stage with the target and human outlines painted on the floor.

And... the rope plan worked! She saw the rope trailing off into the sky, well, at least as far up as she could see in the dense fog. Good, they could climb out if they needed to. She'd hoped to be able to bring the rope with her, kind of like that one Greek dude had used string to navigate that maze in that one myth, but it wasn't long enough, so she just left it to hang there.

Hmm, maybe she should ask Morooka what myth she was thinking of. He was sure to know. The ancient Greeks were famous for philosophy, after all.

Anyway, her next move was... She took out a compass and checked it. It didn't seem to be able to find north. She sighed. So much for that idea.

"So, we're back here. Now what?" Chie asked with a sigh of her own.

"I'm thinking!"

There was no sign of that talking bear, anyway. She hoped the monsters hadn't, well, killed it.

Nanako lifted her head. "All right! Let's go."

Fortunately, Chie didn't ask and just followed her lead. Nanako headed in the complete opposite direction from where the apartment had been. They weren't all that far from the stage when they found themselves on a paved street. 

"This seems kind of familiar," Chie said after they'd walked a little farther down the street. "It's hard to tell with all this fog, though..."

"You've dreamed of this place?" Nanako stopped in her tracks. Was she not alone in this weirdness now?

"N-no, I mean... Here!" Chie stopped by a red wooden pole. When Nanako squinted up and realized it was a gate to a shrine. "This is the shrine in the central shopping district. This whole street. It's part of Inaba!"

"Oh. Uhh, I haven't been to the central shopping district yet." Well, not on foot, anyway. Nanako was aware that she'd driven past it on her first day, but she'd been too sick after the Gas Station Incident to even bother looking out the window.

They walked further down the replica shopping district when suddenly an announcement blared out through the fog. "At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day!"

"Umm," said Chie.

"Yeah, even I know that Junes isn't in the shopping district," said Nanako.

Nanako walked a few more steps when she heard a shudder-inducing squelching sound coming from somewhere in front of her. Something the size of a bean-bag chair flew through the fog towards her.

It was... a zebra-striped ball with a huge black tongue and rows of neat teeth that a dentist would approve of. The ball defied gravity, floating in the air as if hovering on hummingbird wings.

Nanako backed away, but it had seen her somehow even though it had no eyes, and then she noticed there was a second one. "Ch-Chie! Monsters!"

She hefted the golf club—god, this way too bulky to use on a regular basis—and brought it up in a side swing. It connected, and the tongue-ball went flying through the air like a nightmarish golf ball.

She whirled to see the second one bearing down on her. She tried to guard with the golf club, but there was so little time. She hunched her shoulders to endure a lick when suddenly the tongue-ball squealed, knocked away by a furious kick from Chie.

Nanako barely had time to thank her when the squelching sound repeated and several more of the tongue-balls came soaring at them. Chie tried to punch one, but it dodged, and having expected the attack to connect, she was unbalanced. The enemies took advantage of this to lick her with their enormous tongues. She screamed and went down.

Nanako tried to club them off of her friend, but more and more appeared, and one turned its attention to her. The big black tongue came right at her head and she thought _no, not the face_ and then time seemed to stand still.

_I am thou..._

She cried out as her head began to pound. Wind swept around her, blowing the fog away, but not, unfortunately, the monsters.

_Thou art I..._

_From the sea of thy soul, I cometh..._

There was a card in her hand. She crushed it instinctively.

"Persona!"

A female figure in a flowing white gown appeared in front of her. Her arms were bound to her body by white belts, and she was blindfolded by red cloth. A white shawl billowed out behind her, and her mostly featureless gown had a striking line of scarlet running down either side of her body. Black hair whipped around her head like streamers.

"I am Izanami… I learned at Yomotsu Hirasaka the fickleness of the heart."

The goddess seemed to look at Nanako through the blindfold.

"Tell me, am I wrong…?"

Nanako gasped, and then Izanami turned to the monsters and lifted a finger. Geysers of water shot out under the tongue-ball monsters, knocking them high into the foggy air. Nanako squinted, but none of the monsters came back down.

Izanami faded from sight.

Silence broke out over the street to be interrupted by the Junes theme ringing out.

"'At Your Junes,'" Nanako sang under her breath. She shook her head.

Chie squeaked her name behind her.

Nanako turned and smiled. She imagined the card and crushed it again, and Izanami appeared once more for a few moments.

"What is that...? How did you...?"

As Nanako summoned the goddess yet again, she realized this was only one small part of something huge.

* * *

The Junes building in the replica shopping district was so large that it extended into the street, effectively blocking the way forward. Nanako looked up as far as the fog would let her, and the building seemed to go on forever, built with far more than the two stories it was supposed to have.

"This is really creepy," Chie whined. "I want to go back."

"Not yet," said Nanako. "Look, I found a path."

It led to Junes's entrance, but the doors were blocked off, so they couldn't enter the megastore. Turning around, though, Nanako found a much smaller building. "Konishi Liquors?"

A disembodied and unfamiliar voice spoke to them. "Saki went to work for 'the enemy.' I didn't care. A job's a job, right? It's not like they wouldn't hire someone else."

"That's Naoki-kun's voice!" Chie gasped.

"But I wished she didn't, only because..."

A man's voice shouted, "Just tell me why you have to work THERE, of all places!"

Naoki's voice continued, "I had to hear them complain about it every damned day."

"W-wow, I knew some people hate Junes," said Chie, "but... I was pretty happy when it opened, to be honest."

"'Every day's great,'" Nanako murmured. "You can't beat their sales."

"I wish Saki would run away with her college boyfriend already so I can stop hearing it..."

"Oh, damn," said Nanako. "I kind of thought Yosuke didn't have a chance."

"Nanako!" Chie hissed, appalled at her poor taste.

They waited, but Naoki didn't seem to have any more to say.

Nanako crossed her arms and tapped her foot while thinking. "Naoki-kun is dead. Why are we hearing his voice? Is it his memories or something? I wonder... if he died in here."

"Wh-what, to those monsters?" Chie asked, shuddering.

"Yeah."

"But how did he get in here?"

Nanako knew Chie was looking at her. "Hey, I'm abiding by Rule #1, okay? I don't even know what Naoki-kun looked like except that he had wavy hair."

"Y-yeah, I wasn't accusing you."

"Let's go inside."

The liquor store was a wreck. It looked like it might have been looted or vandalized. Broken bottles littered the floor, and their spilled contents made the floor sticky and unpleasant to walk across.

"It reeks in here," Chie commented.

"I could use some brandy," Nanako said absently. "I'm going to investigate. You don't have to come."

"W-well, I don't want to be alone," Chie protested.

"Just scream if a monster shows up," Nanako told her. "I'm going in the back."

The back room only contained a few big barrels meant to store large quantities of alcohol. A couple of them were smashed open. With so much broken wood splintered over the floor, Nanako had to step carefully. While she was navigating towards a work table, she heard Chie shouting from the front.

"Nanako! S-something's there!"

 _Ah, finally the bear shows up._ She'd expected to see it much earlier, though she couldn't pinpoint why.

But it wasn't the bear. It was... another Chie? It stood there with its hands on its hips. Something was off about it, however—an aura of blue smoke surrounded it, and it had yellow eyes and a cruel smirk on its face.

"I'm pathetic," it said in a distortion of Chie's own voice. "I don't have any sort of power." Its unfriendly grin seemed to grow wider at the admission. "Not like Nanako."

"Uhhh... Chie?" Nanako said cautiously.

The real Chie flinched at the accusation. "Wh-wh-what?"

"Yeah, I'm powerless, aren't I?" the other Chie went on. "I don't even have power over Yukiko anymore."

"Wh-wha... Leave Yukiko out of this!" Chie shouted at it.

It ignored her and waved a hand flippantly. "I used to, you know. Yukiko used to look up to me. Oh, how I loved it! I vowed to protect her from everything—keeping her fragile and keeping her dependent upon me!"

"Th-that's not what I think of Yukiko!" Chie exclaimed.

"Isn't it?" the thing replied. "I should know... I'm you. Yukiko's my friend, because I wouldn't let her go. But now she's trying to get away. What's up with that, huh? It's because I'm pathetic. Maybe she's realized it already. That's why she hasn't been answering my calls."

Chie sniffled. "That's..."

"Yukiko doesn't care about me anymore. She cares about the inn so much more." It paused and then made a dramatic flourish. "Or maybe it's because... I'm not from Tokyo!" 

"What does that even have to do with...?" Nanako interrupted. "Oh, wait..."

The thing laughed, and Chie declared, "You're not me!"

The laugh became maniacal, and the aura about it darkened and expanded until it couldn't be seen. When the darkness faded, something else was in its place.

It was a woman wearing a yellow hooded mask and matching knee-high boots perched on a tower of faceless female Yasogami High students. It carried a long red whip that reached all the way to the floor and several lengths of chains, and behind it was a cloak of long, beautiful black hair... that also seemed to be carrying knives.

"Oh, what," said Nanako. She glanced at the real Chie, and the girl was flat on the ground, apparently unconscious. She looked at her golf club and then back at the dominatrix way at the top of the huge tower.

This wasn't going to work.

She envisioned her card and smashed it. "Izanami!"

The goddess came forward and a powerful jet of water hit the dominatrix, causing the whole tower to lean backwards, but it stayed upright.

In return, the dominatrix waved its cherry-red whip, and a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and hit Nanako. I'm dead, she thought, but although it had been painful, she hadn't even been knocked down by it.

If this was the real world, though, she would have been killed by that, no question. This place was very weird...

She didn't have time to think about it. She hefted the golf club and steeled herself, then ran towards the tower's base, but the going was slow due to the stickiness of the floor. The dominatrix didn't move, though, and when she finally made it there, Nanako closed her eyes and whacked the bottommost student as hard as she could with her weapon. It wasn't a real person, she told herself, but the sickening 'thwack' it made on contact caused her to shudder.

"Are you an idiot?" the dominatrix screeched. "Protecting that jealous bitch!" It lifted the whip and, with deadly accuracy, flung Nanako so painfully across the room that she saw stars.

Not like this, she thought, gripping the point of the whip with all her strength even though she was whimpering against the floor. "Izanami?" she called, and the blindfolded goddess answered by singing a bittersweet melody. Its tune soothed Nanako's pain, and also gave her an idea.

"Izanami!" she called again, and from above the goddess doused the entire battlefield in water.

The dominatrix treated her to an amused smile. "That didn't even tickle," it teased, tugging at the whip Nanako was still clutching. "I'm disappointed."

Nanako braced herself. The dominatrix was ready to summon another round of lightning.

"Why don't you try being the bottom for once?" Nanako shouted as the clouds gathered up and roared above. When the lightning bolt struck, she raised the whip and looked at her friend's dark side, its face twisting into an expression she would savor forever as it screamed in bitter agony from the electricity flooding through it.

The singed tower of students toppled backward, and the being dissolved into a mass of black and red smoke, which faded and left behind the yellow-eyed Chie. It lacked the smirk that it previously wore and seemed to be subdued.

After Nanako recovered her breath, she saw that the real Chie was getting up to her feet. "What happened?" the girl asked groggily.

"That happened," Nanako said, pointing with her thumb at the fake Chie. "I don't even know anymore. I think it's related to you somehow. Maybe you can give it a hug or something, I think it needs one."

It was looking pretty sad. Chie slowly approached it. "Are you... How did you know all that about me...? But... You're right. Yukiko's my friend, and maybe I'm a bit overprotective of her, and she's been really busy lately and I'm worried that she doesn't care, but... Yeah."

The other Chie nodded, and in a flash of light, it disappeared. In front of her now was a large yellow-clad warrior woman holding a double-sided naginata. "Tomoe...? My Persona...?"

The figure turned into a card that Chie took in her hand. Then she collapsed to her knees. "Ugh, Nanako... I want to go home..."

"Y-yeah, me too," Nanako said. She moved to her friend's side. "Uh, about Yukiko... I haven't even talked to her since the first day of school. I'm not trying to steal her from you or anything. Really!"

"Y-yeah, I know," Chie replied weakly. She even managed a small smile.

"But, well..." Nanako smiled back at her. "There's always a threesome option, right?"

* * *

On the way back to the stage backlot, they discussed their new powers. "Tomoe Gozen was a master swordswoman and an amazing archer," said Chie. "She was kind of one of my heroes growing up, you know!" She summoned the Persona for the sixth time and looked up at it with the same look of awe that she'd had the first time. "What about you? Izanami? Show me again?"

"Yeah..." said Nanako. "I'm actually a bit too tired to bring her out again." She could envision the card, but it wasn't appearing because her mind couldn't seem to focus. "I think I used it all up in fighting that... thing."

"If that thing was related to me," Chie mused, "I wonder if that's what killed Naoki-kun! Not mine, I mean, but maybe he had something come out and attack him like that! If you weren't there, what would've happened to me...?"

"You'd be strung up on a TV antenna tomorrow morning," Nanako predicted, and they both shuddered just thinking about it.

"Then, this world... Who the heck built it?" Chie asked. "I mean, I really doubt Naoki-kun built the central shopping district himself, and that Junes building, too!"

"It was towering over the liquor store," Nanako noted. "I wonder if that's how he saw Junes? Like he and his family were living in the store's shadow?"

"Oh! Could be. But then... who built it? Naoki-kun's mind?"

"Why not?" said Nanako. "I mean our Personas are from our mind! That other Chie came from your mind, I bet."

"Too bad we don't have psychology as our elective this year, huh?" Chie chuckled. "Man, this is so weird."

"Tell me about it."

But the weirdest was yet to come. Right in the center of the stage that bear was waiting for them. "You guys!" it said. "Why did you come back? You saw how dangerous it was! I barely escaped with my fur!"

Upon closer inspection, the creature did not look dangerous at all. It appeared to be someone in a costume, actually. It even had a zipper around its neck. It was very round, with a red and white body with big red buttons on the front, and cartoonish, overlarge eyes. The fur above the zipper was blue and its ears twitched occasionally.

"We had to know more about the nature of this place, Bear-san," said Nanako, "so we came back."

"Bear-san? My name's Teddie! But you can call me... Teddie-san!" It wiggled its ears in delight. "But this place isn't meant for people! You shouldn't be here."

"Are you like, the guardian of this place?" Chie asked. "Is that why you chased us yesterday?"

The bear looked embarrassed. "Oh, w-well, I thought you were the ones throwing people in here! So I was gonna getcha! But then you ran right towards the most dangerous Shadows in here, so I realized you probably weren't the bad guys..."

"Shadows? Is that what you call those monsters?" Chie asked.

"Wait, throwing people in here?" Nanako said, overwriting Chie's question with her own. "So someone else has the same power that I do?"

"You have the power to bring people to this world? Hmm..." The bear seemed to think about it. "But do you have the power to get back out?"

"Well, we have this rope," said Nanako. The escape rope was still hanging there. "I don't fancy climbing it, but it's there."

"I can make an exit for you again," Teddie said. "But... won't you lovely ladies listen to my story?"

"I dunno," said Chie. "I really kind of want to go home now."

Teddie told them how the world was once peaceful, but with someone throwing people into it, everything's been thrown out of whack. "If you can come in here on your own... Won't you try to put a stop to this for me?"

"Uhh," said Nanako.

"For me...?" the bear pleaded, its large eyes sparkling.

"Give me a sec to think about it," Nanako said. She sat cross-legged on the ground. That announcer and Naoki died. This world was definitely involved. The police... would laugh at her if she tried to tell them, unless they had some sort of secret division for paranormal phenomenon (doubtful). She could demonstrate her TV-entering power to them, but that might just turn her into a guinea pig of some sort. She imagined being holed up in a bio research lab somewhere. She mentally shuddered. No, she valued her freedom far too much. It might cause trouble for her dad, too, and he had his own cases to worry about in Tokyo and couldn't become involved in this.

But finding a killer? That's what this was now, wasn't it? A murder investigation. Someone had put people into the TV so that they'd die to the monsters. She was only sixteen, but... yeah, she didn't mind matching her wits with a killer.

"I'll solve this mystery or my dad isn't a detective!" she declared, raising her fist into the air.

The bear squealed in delight. "I knew I could count on you. Here, I'll give you an easy way out!"

Teddie did a twirl, and a stack of TVs appeared.

"We'll be back soon," Nanako promised him. "We'll have lots of questions, too, so be ready!"

The exit deposited them in the electronics section at Junes, just as it had the last time. Nanako would have to ask how the bear knew this was their exit, and if he could set it to another exit. She wondered if she could be sent directly to the TV in her room. It would save her a long and tiring walk home.

"Oh, _thank god_ you're back. You've been in there for hours!"

Nanako looked up at Yosuke. The boy's face was ashen with worry. "Sorry for making you wait," she said. She didn't tell him that they didn't need the escape rope. In fact, she took the rope from him—he'd apparently untied it from his waist—and stuffed it into the TV. She could find a use for it the next time they went in.

Wait, that rope. It had been hanging in the sky, but the exit TV hadn't been in the sky, and yet the rope had still been there, and... What would've happened if she'd brought the hanging end of the rope through the exit TV with her?

She shook her head and then proceeded to inform him of their findings. She didn't tell him about their 'Persona' power, either, and Chie didn't call her out on the omission. That was because Chie was on the phone. "Yukiko, can we meet? I really need to talk to you."

"A-anyway, Yosuke," said Nanako. "We're exhausted. You look like you need some sleep, too. We'll give you the details tomorrow, all right?"

He looked like he was about to protest, but then he took in both of the girls' appearances, and then he nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you at school."

Nanako saw her friends off, and then bought a notebook at Junes and began to make a shopping list. If they were going to make a habit of entering what she now called 'the TV World,' they'd definitely need to be better-prepared.

* * *

The way home led Nanako through the flood plain. There at the picnic table, she saw Chie with Yukiko. By how close they were sitting—it looked like Yukiko's head was resting on Chie's chest—it was obviously a precious moment. Nanako decided to pretend that the river on the opposite side of the road was far more interesting and walk a little more quickly.

A threesome could happen later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This is the version of Izanami](http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090126220121/megamitensei/images/2/23/P4-izanami.jpg) that Nanako has. Her introduction text and skillset are from Persona 2, where she was available as a unique Persona. The water element makes a comeback!
> 
> It seems like I can't write a P4 story without killing off Naoki Konishi. I don't have anything against the guy, honest! He's just super useful for drama.
> 
> Next Chapter: Gauze and Lace
> 
> Nanako takes a ride down to the police station. It was bound to happen!


	5. Gauze and Lace

Nanako woke up in a place that was so blue, she almost thought she was in the ocean. When her eyes focused, she realized it was that limousine she'd dreamed of during her train ride several days ago.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," said a soft voice. Yes, the long-nosed Igor was there, sitting at the short table before her. "We meet again."

"Yeah, I think I figured out that catastrophe thing," Nanako told him. "Murder, huh?"

Igor drummed the fingers of one hand against the other's knuckles. "Indeed... But more importantly, we must speak of your power. My assistant, Margaret, will explain."

Nanako realized Igor wasn't alone. An elegant woman in a long blue coat and black stockings was sitting near him. She had unnatural golden eyes and wavy silver-yellow hair. A thick book was in her lap.

"You heeded the call of your subconscious," Margaret said, "and chose to follow your destiny, leading to your glorious awakening."

"Yeah, it was pretty glorious, wasn't it?" Nanako commented without a shred of humility.

There was a snicker and she couldn't tell which of the two it had come from.

Igor slid a key across the table. He informed her that she was responsible for every decision she made henceforth.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, puzzled by his words.

Igor ignored her comment and went on to tell her about the uniqueness of her particular power of Persona.

* * *

[4/16: Saturday]

Nanako woke up feeling great. _Igor called me special!_ She had no idea why, but hearing that from the gremlin-like old man elated her.

But her good mood soon faded. She went downstairs and discovered that the dinosaurs she and Souji had colored had been removed from the fridge. She'd proudly posted them up there for Aunt Seta to see.

Had the woman taken them down? She scowled at the thought.

Her scowl became darker when she realized it was Saturday and apparently this part of the country hadn't abolished Saturday school. Back in Tokyo she only had to go on Saturday twice a month.

Well, at least it was only a half-day. And it wasn't raining, although it was foggy out. It reminded her of the TV World...

Still, seeing the sun cheered her up a bit. "I think today's going to be a great day!" she told Souji, who looked at her politely for further comments and said nothing himself. He was probably upset that it _wasn't_ raining and he couldn't use the Loveline umbrella. She chuckled to herself. She wouldn't see that thing again anytime soon. She should add that to her shopping list: buy an adult-sized umbrella.

On the way to school, Chie ran up to her. "Did you check out the Midnight Channel last night?"

"Ah, no," Nanako admitted. "I'm kind of a sound sleeper. Why, did you?"

"Y-yeah!" Chie was bouncing with excitement. "So, uh, there was a girl on there, and uh, well, I reached out to touch it out of curiosity, and my hand went through the screen!"

Nanako's eyes widened. "What, really?"

"Yeah! I have the power too, Nanako!"

"Maybe it's because you have a Persona now."

Chie nodded, but then her smile faded. "Well, if someone was on it, then they could be in danger, right? We should talk to Yosuke and check it out after school."

Nanako agreed. They walked in silence for a bit before she broke it. "Now, be honest, Chie... You only tried to touch the screen because it was a girl, didn't you?"

Chie's face flushed, and she laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nanako!"

Nanako laughed, too, and then she heard a shattering sound and time seemed to stop. The image of a tarot card appeared in her mind. It depicted the silhouette of a warrior riding a chariot drawn by two sphinxes.

_Thou art I... And I am thou..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the truth..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot Arcana..._

The card faded and time resumed, although she stumbled.

"You okay?" Chie asked.

"I just tripped over a rock," Nanako replied quickly.

"The problem with living in the country!" Chie quipped.

Nanako didn't respond. 'Social links' were something else Igor had spoken of, and apparently that's what that had been. Being friends with Chie would make her stronger, huh? Well, there was no problem with that. She'd always intended to be friends with her, if only to improve her kicking skills!

* * *

The day ended up being a total bust. They'd talked with Teddie through the TV—apparently as long as Nanako opened the 'door,' sound could travel through, and thus they could talk with the bear without actually entering his world—and no one had been thrown in there despite someone having shown up on the Midnight Channel. Maybe that hypothesis had been incorrect, or they were still missing something.

On the bright side, Nanako had finished all her homework for the week, which meant her Sunday would be free.

She sighed while she put said homework in the correct notebook in her school bag. There was just too much to think about. She didn't know what to look at first. But one thing was certain: this was already turning out to be the best school year ever—well, despite having to go every Saturday.

She hadn't even been in town a week and she was in this deep. Her dad would be worried if he knew and her mom would be... uh...

Well, Chisato Dojima was a unique woman. Nanako was old enough to recognize that now. A world-traveled pianist with an appreciation for art, she had raised Nanako to be open-minded in a rather structured and close-minded society and had taught her to appreciate the beauty in everything.

When Nanako was little, her mom had told her a story about mirrors and the importance of seeing what's actually there instead of what one wants to see.

So, TV World, Shadows, Personas, Velvet Rooms, and Social Links... Sure, they were weird, but Nanako had no doubt that it was real, that it wasn't just a product of her admittedly overactive imagination. She could feel Izanami in the back of her mind even now in the real world. It wasn't really the goddess of creation and death, but one aspect of herself, or so Igor had said.

 _The world I knew isn't the world I know now,_ she thought, and she had a feeling that if her mom was there, she would have replied, "I told you so."

Still, Nanako didn't want her mother to worry, so she just sent an opaque email telling her about her week. She informed her dad of the murder case, knowing he'd appreciate that. He probably already knew Naoki Konishi had been a student the same school she was going to, if the news reached outside of Inaba. Probably—the news was already calling it a serial murder, even though 'serial' meant three or more. Technically speaking, as it was right now, it was just a murderer who'd struck twice. When she'd told Yosuke that, he hadn't been amused by her semantic knowledge.

"Who cares if the terminology is wrong?" he'd declared. "It doesn't change that fact that two people are dead! And Saki-senpai is suffering..."

"Soon enough, it might be three, anyway," she'd quietly agreed.

Now, Nanako was supposed to stay up and watch the Midnight Channel. The morning fog had given way to a rainy evening. But Nanako didn't really care to stay up; she was still tired from yesterday, and her little cousin had pointed out that she hadn't taken the medicine he'd given her, and so she was kind of obligated to take it right then and there even though it was the kind that made you drowsy...

So, she, uh, went to sleep instead.

* * *

It took several rings for the cell phone to reach through her medicine-induced haze of sleep and awaken her. Her eyes were too blurry to make out the time or even the name of who was calling when she flipped open the phone. She meant to press 'End Call' and missed the button, answering it instead.

"Nanako DID YOU WATCH THE MIDNIGHT CHANNEL?!?!?!"

"What the hell, Chie," Nanako muttered to herself. Giving the girl her number this afternoon had obviously been a mistake.

"IT WAS YUKIKO AND SHE WAS—"

Chie raced on like an auctioneer with a megaphone, but Nanako put the cell phone down and rubbed her eyes, which honestly only made them blurrier but at least served to make her feel slightly more awake. When she picked it back up, Chie was panting into the phone, apparently out of breath or just waiting for Nanako to respond.

"Chie, honey, run that by me again?" Nanako said. "Quieter and slower this time, please."

"Did you see the Midnight Channel?" Chie asked between gasps.

"Tell me what you saw again and let's compare notes, hmm?"

Apparently Chie had seen Yukiko wearing a fancy dress with lacy underwear—no, she hadn't _seen_ the underwear, but Yukiko had said she was wearing that—she'd _said_ that?—yes, she'd said that. And she'd also said she was looking for a 'hot stud' and had entered a castle behind her. Then the show had ended.

"What the hell was that, Nanako? It wasn't like anything we'd seen before."

"I assume you tried calling her, right?"

"It says she's not in a service area!"

"Has that ever happened before?"

"No!"

"Then she's probably in the TV World," Nanako mused. "Tomorrow, let's meet up at Junes. Umm, what time, umm..." Loveline was tomorrow morning! She couldn't miss it! But... if Yukiko was in the TV World, she was in danger... "Afternoon, maybe... one-thirty?"

"Y-yeah, all right. Umm... Thanks, Nanako. For being so calm... I was freaking out over here!"

"Not a problem," Nanako said, though she was surprised that Chie hadn't woken up her family. "Try to get some rest. We might need it."

 _Man, I wished I'd stayed awake now..._ Nanako thought as she pulled the covers up over her body. Yukiko's show had sounded very... interesting.

* * *

[4/17: Sunday]

Nanako woke up later than she'd planned and blamed it on the cold medicine. It was a good thing she'd set their meeting later in the day. Due to how groggy she was, it took a while for her to get dressed. Since it wasn't a school day, she put on casual clothes: a simple white blouse, a pink cardigan jacket, and a matching pink skirt.

Downstairs, she found her little cousin at the tea table in the living room, staring out through the sliding glass doors and apparently daydreaming.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, taking the seat across from him.

Souji didn't turn his head. "It's sunny out..."

"Do you want to go out and play?" she suggested. They could play kickball, or maybe catch. Despite her sleeping in, there was time for a quick game before the show started.

"...I should do the laundry," he whispered as if he hadn't heard her.

 _He does the laundry, too._ Nanako drummed her fingers against the table in thought. _Of course._

She stood up, and with the rustle of her clothes, the boy finally turned to look at her. "Why don't we get a load started, then?" she said briskly.

Souji obediently rose from his spot, and she helped him out with the laundry. While they were separating the light and dark wash, she asked where his mother was and discovered that she was often out on weekends, too.

She also learned that the boy went to daycare on Saturdays. Nanako had just assumed he'd been at cram school yesterday. _Does your mom take you to the daycare or do you walk?_ she wondered. There was something radically wrong with the image of Souji walking to daycare all on his own.

After the load was started, Nanako set Souji in front of the tea table and told him she'd be right back. She went up to her room, opened up the bag of stuff she'd bought from Junes, and took out a snack bag. She brought it downstairs, opened it up, and set it on the table between them.

"I always have to have gummies when I watch Loveline. It's tradition," she declared.

He stared at her while she turned the TV on and flipped it to the right channel. She ate a few gummies from the bag and then forced one of them into his hand.

 _Just eat it already, damn,_ she thought when he stared at it. _It's just a gummy, you don't have to be so surprised._

"Magical Detective... Loveline!" she sang along with the theme song. While the opening theme played, she wondered briefly what would happen if she touched a turned-on TV... She could test it later, though—the show was starting!

She watched the show, yes—it was her favorite, after all—but out of the corner of her eye she also watched little Souji. He was engrossed by the TV. And he really was a normal child, at least in that moment. He smiled at the jokes and he held his breath unconsciously during the suspenseful scenes.

And during a commercial she heard the crinkle of plastic when he pulled out another gummy from the bag all on his own. She mentally cheered.

"Hey, Souji-kun... I missed the last episode of Featherman, can you tell me what happened last week?" she asked during the break between shows. Featherman was coming up next. She'd missed it because she had been packing some last-minute items.

He looked down at the table, and she worried for a moment that maybe he'd missed it last week, too, but then he looked up at her. "Red Hawk and Yellow Owl had their minds switched. But Blue Swan fixed it."

"That sounds like fun!" She smiled at him in thanks. "I'm sorry I missed it. Well, at least I'll see this week's!"

She only hummed the theme because she didn't know all the lyrics. She didn't watch Featherman even half as often as Loveline, but at least she knew the tune. She listened, but Souji didn't seem to be humming or singing it. Yes, he was sort of eyeing her. Maybe he was too embarrassed by her presence to sing it himself.

Well, she'd just have to learn the lyrics on her own for next week and embarrass herself more than him. She grinned to herself at the plan and then the show started.

This episode involved one of the rangers getting ill while the bad guys created a giant bird monster to attack the others. The sick one got better just in time to save his friends. "I'm going to be like that!" Nanako claimed. "I'll save everyone."

Although watching TV with her cousin was doing nothing to save Yukiko, that was true...

Souji looked at her. "You aren't sick anymore..." he conceded.

"That's right," she said. "Hey, this was fun, wasn't it? Watching TV together?"

Souji blinked at the now-empty package of gummies, and she wondered if she was wrong to put him on the spotlight with such a direct question.

He didn't look up when he said his very quiet, "Y-yeah..."

A card suddenly appeared in her mind's eye: a glowing lantern with an eyeball under it.

_Thou art I... And I am thou..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the truth..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Hermit Arcana..._

"W-we'll have to do it again next week," she told him, disconcerted by the voice in her head.

Apparently tired of talking, he stood up. "Have to finish the laundry..."

"Hey, I'll help you!"

"It's okay..." he said, but she helped him anyway. While hanging the laundry out to dry, she thought about the 'Social Link' she'd just established. Cards in her head, representing her friends (and now family)? It was a bit weird, though convenient.

And Souji was the hermit? Wasn't that supposed to be reserved for old men at the end of their journey? It was true Souji had gray hair already, but she knew his father had been a natural gray, too, so it ran in his family, as strange as that was.

She wondered if Souji had been different before his father's sudden death, but she didn't have much time to ponder it because she had to meet with Chie and Yosuke at Junes.

* * *

Nanako got there early; neither of her classmates was in sight. She took a seat at the one of the round plastic tables and waited. She checked her phone and there was another message from dad telling her to be careful. _Yeah, Dad, I know..._

"Hey there, little lady..." said a familiar voice. She looked up to see Yosuke walking towards her. Since it was Sunday, he was also in his casual wear: an open white jacket with fur lining, and brown pants and boots. His undershirt was an orange v-neck and he still sported his signature headphones. "Can I interest you in any of these?"

He took out a sword and a knife and waved them around.

"Uhh," said Nanako since she had not been expecting that.

"I found them in the closet at home!" he explained. "Chie said you'd found monsters in there, so... which one's more your style?"

"Gimme the knife, fast," Nanako hissed, well-aware of the fact that the lady behind Yosuke was beginning to panic. Yosuke handed it to her and she stuffed it inside her own jacket so that it was out of sight. "Now, Yosuke, you might wanna, umm, put that down."

"I bet I could fight with this," Yosuke mused, looking at the katana. He then took some practice swings and Nanako tried not to facepalm as a police officer came running up to them.

"M-miss, are you all right? SIR, drop your weapon! Hands where I can see them!"

Responding only to the officer's last request, Yosuke held up both of his hands, including the one with the katana, so it looked like he was about to attack with it.

The officer proceeded to arrest him, although Nanako tried to explain that he'd meant no harm.

 _Shit,_ she thought as she watched Yosuke get taken into a police car. He might not be the smartest member of the team, but he didn't deserve that. She didn't have high hopes that he'd be able to explain himself. The police were understandably on edge after the second murder, so they weren't likely to go lightly on him... but what could she do?

While walking around Junes's front entrance area, she almost literally ran into the answer. "Hey, watch where you're going, miss, haha..."

She blinked up at the red tie and then into the face of a familiar policeman. "Adachi-san! Just the man I needed!"

"H-huh? Oh, you're Seta-san's niece... Nanako-kun, was it? Uhh," Adachi drawled. "What can I do for you?"

She eyed him, calculating how best to formulate the request. She didn't know anything about the guy except that he used to be her uncle's partner on the force. That fact really couldn't be used as leverage... She decided that coming clean might be best. "My friend is kind of an idiot and just got arrested for waving around a fake sword. I kind of need him... not arrested. Could you maybe see your way to fixing this?"

Adachi coughed and began to laugh. He covered his mouth in amusement. "Ahh... And why would I do that?"

Damn, the question she'd hoped he wouldn't ask. "Because..." Her eyes flickered to the produce he'd been looking at. "I'll buy you cabbages."

The amusement died on his face, replaced by curious puzzlement. "Oh...? I thought for sure you'd ask me to do it as a favor to your aunt." He seemed impressed by that. "But... cabbages?"

"Beautiful, fresh, green cabbages," Nanako said, having no idea what the hell she was even on about. She thought of running her fingers over the cabbages on display, but she had more pride than that.

"You shouldn't try to bribe an officer of the law," he muttered, but she could tell she was winning him over.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "There's also red cabbages on the other end of the display!" She ran towards it.

"No, no, I like the green ones!" he called after her. She turned and he scratched the back of his head. "A-all right, then... I'll help, but I'm holding this against you!"

"Thanks, Adachi-san!"

"Don't thank me yet," he said. "I haven't done anything. Come along, we'll see what I can do."

 _Come along!?_ She followed him out of Junes and to the parking lot, where he unlocked a black and white car with "Inaba PD" on the side. He invited her to sit in the passenger seat. As she sat down, the knife in her jacket dug into her thigh and made her wince until she shifted it. The action seemed to draw Adachi's attention, but to her surprise, he was actually checking to make sure that she had her seatbelt on, immediately earning him points in her mental tally.

"I heard your father is a detective, too," he remarked while turning the ignition. "He ever give you a ride?" He grinned at her. He had a very goofy, disarming grin that she wasn't quite sure what to make of.

"Y-yeah, actually," she replied, "but well, it's been a while, and it's always fun."

"The Tokyo PD, huh?" he went on. "Bet he's got fancier gadgets than I'm stuck with." Adachi fiddled around with the police radio and the sudden static it emitted made both of them wince. "Eh, sorry about that. What division is he with?"

"Homicide, actually," she said. "Is that... what you're in, too?"

Adachi leaned back in the driver's seat and looked in the rearview mirror while he backed the car out of the lot. "I wasn't until this week!" He chuckled without humor.

She blinked. "The murders...?"

"Out here in the sticks," he further explained, "it's not so much divisions, just whatever the top brass decides you're gonna do. Why did I have to be one of the unlucky ones assigned to this case?" He sighed and looked very uncomfortable. Yeah, the homicide division wasn't for everyone. Nanako remembered several times when her dad had come home drunk because he'd seen something terrible on the job...

She also recalled how Adachi had been sick at the crime scene. No wonder the guy had been screwing around at Junes instead of investigating.

An uncomfortable silence elapsed, interrupted by the police radio. Adachi listened intently until the dispatch was over. "Haha, maybe someone has even less luck than me. That sap just got assigned to code 17. You know what that is? Come on, guess!"

It had to be something inane, so... "Uhh... Helping an old person cross the road?" she guessed.

"Finding a lost pet." He laughed. "Thank god I'm high enough on the ladder not to deal with that shit anymore. Uh, forgive my language."

"Not a problem!" Nanako replied cheerfully. "My dad's definitely said worse."

"Oh yeah? Like what...?" he asked teasingly.

They made some more small talk, and before Nanako knew it, they were already there. This town was small, wasn't it? The ride hadn't even lasted five minutes.

The Inaba police department wasn't a large building—it was less than half the size of the one her dad worked at—but some care had been put into its outer appearance; its paint job looked recent, and a landscaping company's placard had been placed in front of the well-trimmed bushes lining the entrance. The water from a small fountain babbled away between the largest bushes. Its cherub motif seemed out of place for a police department.

Adachi stopped before the sliding glass doors and sighed. "I hate going into the office. Well, let's get this over with..."

The front office was teeming with activity and the sound of several different ongoing conversations filled the air. At a glance, Nanako saw a couple of civilians speaking with a uniformed woman right by the front entrance, several people gathered around a coffee-maker near a hallway, and farther in the back people gossiping while eating lunch at their desks.

As soon as the people noticed Adachi, however, all conversation ceased until it was so quiet that she could hear a pin drop.

Adachi's dress shoes echoed in the room as he walked across the tiled floor to the front desk. Nanako noticed how his hand clenched into a fist. He was well aware that all eyes were watching him.

"Ah, Adachi-san, sir," the receptionist said a tad too brightly. "How may I help you?"

Adachi slouched against the reception desk and bent one of his legs in a relaxed manner. "Ehh. Some kid was armed at Junes. I imagine he's being questioned..."

The receptionist nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes, that's in I.R. 3."

"Right."

Adachi headed down a hallway and waved for Nanako to follow him. She could hear whispers behind her as conversation started up again in the front office.

As if hearing her unspoken question, Adachi commented, "It's been almost half a year and they still treat me like something to be pitied."

Nanako knew without asking that he meant his partner's—her uncle's—death.

He stopped before a door. "Stay here," he told her.

He didn't bother knocking, just opened the door and interrupted the interrogation. He left the door open, and Nanako peered in through the small window that the gap provided. All she could see was an officer at a desk.

"You," Adachi said, pointing at the officer, then jerking his thumb towards the door. "Out. I'm taking over from here."

The officer tried to protest, but Adachi stared him down, and he left the room, scowling at Nanako as he passed her in the hall.

"All right, kid," Adachi said. He stood behind the desk and leaned over it, palms down on the tabletop. "We could do this the easy way... or the hard way."

"I'm not the killer!" Yosuke's voice had an 'I'm about to cry' quality to it.

"Damn right," Adachi agreed. "Get the hell out of here, kid. And buy that girl outside some ice cream or something, because she just saved your ass."

Taking that as her cue, Nanako popped her head into the room and waved at Yosuke.

"Wh-wha... Nanako-san!" Yosuke squeaked in surprise and relief.

Adachi eyed her impassively, then glanced over the paperwork on the desk and shook his head at its contents. "I'll take care of this. Get the hell out of here, both of you."

"Thank you, Adachi-san!" Nanako sang.

He didn't answer, but the look on his face said, 'You owe me.'

"N-Nanako-san..." Yosuke sniffled while they were out in the hallway. He rubbed his watering eyes. He looked even more awful than he'd been during the week, if it was even possible. "They thought I was the killer! C-can you believe that?"

He was trying hard to be cheerful. Nanako patted him on the shoulder. "Well, now we know about weapon safety."

"Th-thank you so much for bailing me out there... They were trying to call my parents and, ugh..." He wiped his eyes and sniffled again. "I don't even want to think about it."

"Yosuke. You're on my team," she said. "Of course I wouldn't abandon you."

He looked like he really appreciated that.

In fact...

 _Oh,_ thought Nanako, as time stopped and yet another social link was earned. Magician, huh? After this incident, she kind of doubted Yosuke had any wisdom to impart, but she had a feeling his heart was in the right place.

"Well," she said, "Moving on... We're extremely late to our meeting with Chie." Yeah, Nanako checked her phone and there were a few texts from her friend.

_Cum 2 daidaras by bookstore @csd_

_Were r u?_

_U ok?_

_Coming,_ Nanako sent back.

"Apparently we're going to... Daidara's?" she informed him. "I guess it's at the shopping district."

"Oh, yeah," said Yosuke. "That's the blacksmith shop. I always wondered why we had a blacksmith. Feels old-timely, right? Like when wagons were used instead of cars."

"All right. If you know where it is, why don't you lead the way?"

* * *

Daidara's Metalworks was unlike anything she expected to see... anywhere, really. It was, in essence, a blacksmith's shop. There was even a forge in the corner, and by the glow it emitted, it was on and ready to be used, too. The wooden shelves were covered in weapons that looked like they belonged in medieval Europe: axes, pikes, swords, knives... Even some old bucket helmets were on display.

And Chie was there, looking annoyed at being forced to wait for so long. "There you are! Look, Nanako, we can buy weapons and armor here. If we have to save Yukiko, we should go in prepared, right? I'll leave it up to you to decide what to get."

"Y-yeah," said Yosuke. "I knew a golf club wouldn't really cut it, so..."

Chie handed Nanako some money, and Nanako looked over the assorted weapons on display. Nothing really spoke to her. She noticed the blacksmith watching them from next to his forge. He looked intimidating—his face was scarred and he had a bandana over his forehead, presumably to keep sweat out of his eyes. Well, if they were going to make use of this place, she thought she might as well get acquainted with the owner. "Daidara-san? Maybe you could give us some advice?"

* * *

An hour or so later, they stood before the large TV in the Junes electronics department. Chie kept itching her sides; the padded vest she wore under her lime green jacket seemed to irritate her skin. Nanako wasn't fond of it, either, but she imagined it was better than not having the vest.

On the other hand, Chie was rather happy with her steel-toed boots. Nanako caught her lifting up her feet and looking at them admiringly on more than one occasion.

With Daidara's help, Nanako had picked out a naginata for herself. She'd carried it with her into Junes, hoping the wooden sheath over the blade would conceal the weapon's nature. It seemed to work so far, and once it was in the TV World, she figured she'd never have to take it out into the real world again. She'd already tossed a plastic crate into the TV and planned to use it for storage there.

And Yosuke... had another rope. Well, Nanako had given him back the knife he'd given her earlier in the day, but Yosuke's job was, once again, to keep their backup exit open. He was less than thrilled with the idea.

"Why can't I come with?" he complained.

"I'm still upset with you for earlier," she told him, and he lowered his gaze, chastised. "And we can't guarantee that Teddie will be there to let us out."

"Y-yeah, well," he said, "that's all well and good, but what if someone comes here and sees me feeding a rope into the TV screen? It almost happened last time."

"I'm sure you'll come up with an excuse," she said. "Come on, Chie! We have a Yukiko to save!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Royal Pains
> 
> The first rescue mission begins!


	6. Royal Pains

Landing upright onto the TV backlot was getting easier. Bend the knees just so...

When Nanako straightened, the key Igor had given her glowed through her jacket's pocket and resonated with a semi-transparent glowing blue door in the corner of the backlot. She took the key out of her pocket and stepped through the door.

"All right, Igor, what else do you have to tell me?" she said upon opening her eyes. She'd had a hunch it'd be the Velvet Room, and sure enough, it was. "And who's that?"

To Igor's right was a girl who looked to be about her own age. She wore a white blouse, a black tie, striped stockings, and a plaid pleated skirt. Her eyes were a vibrant green, complementing, in a way, Margaret's yellow. She was nicely accessorized with a blue bag and matching cap, but she wore a necklace that unfortunately looked like a dog collar.

"Just leave me alone!" the girl said, clutching the strap to her bag and turning her head away with a troubled look. It reminded Nanako of Souji when she'd made him wear a seatbelt.

"Marie." Margaret even sounded like she was scolding a dog.

"This's got nothing to do with me," the girl claimed.

"Your name's Marie? I'm Nanako." Nanako held out her hand. "I can tell we're going to be friends already."

Marie scowled at her hand and didn't take it. "What's with you...?"

Nanako stuck her tongue out at her.

"Marie will like it if you show her around your world when you have the time," Margaret said, slowly and deliberately. "Won't you...? Marie."

Marie's fist curled around the strap to her bag. She looked like she might be about to throw a temper tantrum.

"Well, I can't right now," Nanako said. "TV World." She spread her hands in a shrug.

"TV... World...?" Marie repeated. She shook her head. "Never heard of it."

"Ahem," said Igor. "As you are our very special guest," – Nanako glowed at his words, Marie all but forgotten – "it behooves me to inform you of the services available here..."

* * *

Nanako blinked back into reality. Or rather, the TV World. The yellow fog almost looked green after saturating her eyes on all that velvety blue.

Well. That had been interesting. Now back to business.

She dumped the backpack full of supplies she'd brought in from Junes onto the floor of the TV backlot and began to sort through it. Stuff she expected to need—a pen and paper, a small water bottle, a roll of toilet paper (hey, she wasn't about to pull a Yosuke, but just in case!)—she put back into the backpack to bring with her. Everything else she placed in the plastic crate for future consideration. Thankfully the crate had survived its fall into the TV World. With plastic you never really knew how strong it would be.

While she was doing that, Chie conversed with Teddie; focused on her own task, Nanako hardly listened until she was suddenly addressed.

"Sensei! You'll need these, too!"

Teddie waddled over and handed her a pair of glasses. They were black-framed and had ribbon decorations on the edges, along with some crystal studs embedded into the frame.

They looked pretty rad.

Nanako put them on and the weird yellow fog was suddenly absent. She lifted them up and the fog was back. Down again and it was gone again. "Wow. Scientifically speaking, this makes no sense."

"Nothing much makes sense here," Chie pointed out. She was now wearing her own set of yellow-framed glasses.

"Yeah, I just felt the need to point it out." Nanako looked at the bear. "Thanks, Teddie. These are _perfect._ "

"Uh, uh, actually, Sensei..." he began.

"Just call me... Boss," she told him with a shark-like grin.

"B-boss?" he repeated. "Okay... Boss, those glasses were a joke! I have another pair meant for you..."

"They do look pretty gaudy," Chie admitted. "But at the same time, they kind of say 'you.'"

Nanako flipped her hair and smiled at her in what she was sure was a dazzling way. "I said they were perfect, Teddie. I'll stick with them, thankyouverymuch." She stood up and hefted the backpack over one shoulder. "All right. You two figured out where Yukiko is...?"

Before following Teddie, Nanako tied some string to the plastic crate. "We won't get lost if we feed this out behind us," she explained, carrying the spool with her. Man, what was that Greek myth she was stealing, no, borrowing, ideas from, anyway...? It was starting to bother her.

Teddie led them on a long, long trek through the fog. Eventually they reached the courtyard of a massive medieval-style castle. The tiny windows high on the walls glowed red, making it look, well, _hellish._ She imagined satanic demons torturing people inside. Teddie said that Yukiko's mind had created the place. Nanako looked at a statue of a rearing horse and noted that it was definitely a stallion and not a mare.

"It's huge..." Chie said, and for a moment Nanako's mind was in the gutter, thinking of the horse statue, but her friend was looking up at the castle. Yeah, it might have been even larger than the Junes they'd encountered in the replica shopping district. "But it's definitely the one I saw Yukiko go into on the Midnight Channel!"

"What's with the sky?" Nanako wondered. Red and black lines trawled across it like a spiraling vortex. It did nothing to change her opinion of it being Hell's Castle.

"The sky is like that everywhere here!" said Teddie. "What's it like in your world...?"

Everywhere? Hell's TV World, then.

"You're sure Yukiko is in there?" Nanako asked. Teddie assured her that his sniffer was never wrong.

 _You could stand me up at the gates of hell..._ she thought. She shook her head to clear it and hefted up her naginata. "Let's do this!"

* * *

The inside of the castle was as expansive as the outside indicated. The floors were tiled like a chess board and covered with an expensive-looking red carpet lined with gold trimming. Tall glass windows were set in the walls, but there wasn't anything visible outside of them. Upon closer inspection, the red carpet had a leopard print pattern. _Rawr._

They encountered their first hostile Shadow in the very first hallway they ran down. It floated in the air and looked like an artist's rendition of a dolphin made of paper mache. Nanako wished she could take a picture to show her mom, but cell phones didn't work in the TV World. Its body was segmented and it wore an adorable pink mask that Nanako wanted for herself.

The fish gave them some trouble mainly because they were unused to fighting, and the enemy was surprisingly agile in the air. Nanako tried to swing up her naginata, and her target just floated out of her way. On the bright side, its dodge brought it right next to Chie, whose Persona shredded the enemy to pieces with her double-sided naginata as if it really was made of paper mache.

"Guess I'm no match for Tomoe," Nanako observed, only a mite jealous.

Chie grinned. "That was fun!"

Feeling pumped now, they strode down the hall, on the lookout for both Shadows and a staircase. Teddie had told them the castle had several floors, and Yukiko was likely at the top. The layout was a maze and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the placement of the intersecting hallways. They had a long trek ahead of them, so Nanako set a pace that ensured they wouldn't get winded too soon.

She opened a door along the hall and was almost ambushed by a trio of familiar foes behind it: the zebra-striped ball-tongues they'd encountered in the replica central shopping district. Nanako was about to summon Izanami to blast them away with water, but the one she had been aiming at was suddenly brought down by a block of ice. "What," she said.

Chie laughed sheepishly. "Tomoe learned a new skill! I guess I can summon ice!"

"Well, cool," Nanako said while she skewered the next ball-tongue with her naginata. 'Hablerie,' Teddie informed them of its proper name.

Yes, that was interesting—Teddie was apparently a telepath. He was walking a fair distance behind them—Nanako had put him on navigation-string-lying duty since she couldn't fight while carrying the spool—and he was speaking to them in their minds. He had some insight into the various types of Shadows, but in all honesty his help wasn't all that helpful. Still, he was trying, and he kept track of what worked and what didn't so that Nanako didn't have to.

After this battle, Nanako earned her first new Persona. It came into her mind and she wasn't sure how it got there. Igor had warned her this could happen after defeating Shadows.

_You have welcomed Pixie into your heart._

She concentrated and summoned it. It was, indeed, the textbook definition of a pixie. It was a tiny woman in a blue dress with fairy wings, and she only seemed to be able to heal, which was fine because Chie had been licked by the last hablerie while Nanako was figuring out how she could manage more than one Persona.

Upon seeing the new Persona, Chie asked her what it was and Nanako just shrugged and said, "Pixie."

Soon after she earned another Persona. It was a water nymph of some sort: a blue-skinned female with a very short skirt. Like Pixie, she was only able to heal.

Nanako was somewhat frustrated. _Where are my badass other selves?_ she wondered. She'd never been the cleric in any MMORPG she'd played. _Healing is for chumps._

She showed the Apsaras to Chie, anyway, who told her it was pretty.

The very next Persona worried her. It was called Angel, and it was a woman with white wings and... uh, her neck had a collar with a long chain attached, and instead of clothes it seemed to have duct tape covering only the naughty bits.

At least it had an attack skill! The next Shadow was a disembodied hand that stood on the tips of its fingers and had a small head where the wrist would be. Nanako blew it away with a gust of wind coming apparently from Angel's wings.

"Uh, Nanako," said Chie when she saw that one. "What exactly is going on with you?"

Nanako informed her that she was special and could wield many different Personas.

"Y-yeah, that one was rather special," Chie admitted slowly. "I might not be able to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, I don't get it either!" Nanako grumbled. "Why are all my Personas scantily-clad girls?" She tilted her head and paused, blushing faintly. "Eh, I kind of answered my own question, didn't I?"

Chie didn't comment, but she was definitely hiding a smile behind her hand.

 _I'm going to have some Words with Igor later,_ Nanako thought. But she was aware she'd probably forgive him if he said she was special again...

* * *

A few floors later, they found a very large door, and Teddie told them he sensed someone behind it. They waited for him to catch up to them before opening it.

In the center of the room was a woman wearing a pretty pink princess dress with a rose right in the middle of her cleavage. It was Yukiko... except it wasn't. The yellow eyes were a dead giveaway. _But that tiara is really cute,_ Nanako thought. _And damn, even her dark side has nice hair!_

"Yukiko!" Chie shouted, apparently so desperate to see her friend that she didn't catch the signs.

The fake Yukiko laughed evilly. Nanako approved of the laugh. It was a pretty good one, especially with the added distortion that being a Shadow provided. It made Nanako vow to become Yukiko's friend if they succeeded in getting her out of this mess.

Yukiko's Shadow carried a microphone and announced its desire to find a Prince Charming. It even formed an illusionary cartoonish sign over her head, like it was all a game show or something. With garish overacting, it declared, "Ready or not, here I come!" and ran into the door behind her. It was out of sight in seconds.

"What is going on? Yukiko!" Chie shouted after her. She ran forward, but stopped after a few steps, scratching her head. "That wasn't her."

"I know," said Nanako. "It was her suppressed self being let free. Or whatever." She... hadn't quite been paying attention to Teddie's explanations of the TV World. She figured imagination had a lot to do with everything.

"The real Yukiko wants to show us something," Teddie added. "I can feel it."

"Yeah, her lacy underwear," Nanako joked. "Heh heh." Chie shot her a very dark look, which she ignored.

"Lazy... under-bear?" Teddie seemed confused by his own bear pun. Nanako led them forward before she had to explain what she'd meant.

* * *

They ran into a new type of Shadows: ravens carrying lanterns. To Nanako's surprise, Angel's wind attack had absolutely no effect. It should have knocked them out of the air, or ruffled their feathers at the very least! She complained to Teddie who just told her that's how this world always was. Basically, physics had taken a vacation.

She supposed she should get used to it. Izanami could summon water out of nowhere, after all, and Tomoe big chunks of ice. Yeah, this wasn't the real world at all.

As they continued through the castle, they heard Yukiko's voice intermingled with her Shadow's.

"She said... red looks good on me..."

"My prince... I'm waiting..."

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn..."

"Are you... my princes? I'm locked up here... Please save me! Hehehe..."

"Your room is right this way..."

Chie growled every time she heard either voice, but said nothing.

After a fight with a bunch of giant beetles that were on fire, Nanako earned another new Persona: a floating brain with eyes and tentacles. She wondered if it was male or female. She wanted some masculine Personas, dammit! Besides, getting a tentacle-based one right after the bondage angel was...

Well, at least the Omoikane could summon lightning. It made Nanako feel pretty badass to blast the stupid ravens right out of the air. "Fried chicken!" she shouted after one such attack, enjoying the birds' dying squawks. If only. The Shadows always seemed to dissipate right after they were defeated. Sometimes they left behind strange materials, which she put in her backpack at Chie's urging. Daidara-san was apparently always looking for new things to work with, so why not bring him some Shadow bits?

They stopped for a break since Nanako was obviously getting hungry. In fact, she was starving. The trip with Adachi to the police station had forced her to skip lunch. She'd planned to have something at Junes, but after all that hullabaloo, they were pressed for time, and Chie, lucky for her, had already eaten. She felt bad for Yosuke, stuck back at the electronics department. She couldn't share her granola bars with him.

"You want one?" Nanako offered.

"Nah," said Chie. "I've got this!" She tossed a packet of something to Nanako, who caught it and stared at the label. It said 'MEAT' in all caps and next to that was a stylized drawing of a chunk of meat on a bone.

"Meat... gum? Sounds... umm..." Nanako couldn't think of a nice way to say absolutely disgusting.

"Better than beef jerky!" Chie said cheerfully. "Well, maybe not..."

" _Bear_ jerky?" Teddie said, catching up to them. "Oh, wait..."

"Yeah, don't give me any ideas!" Nanako said. She ferociously tore a large chunk out of the granola bar, purposely showing off her canine teeth. Teddie backed away a few steps and she laughed.

* * *

What felt like hours later, they finally made it to the top of the castle, or so Teddie said. Nanako was exhausted, and so was Chie. The meat gum hadn't been that rejuvenating. Neither had the granola bar, to be honest.

Noting their exhaustion, Teddie suggested they stop for the day. "This world is tiring to humans, isn't it? She should be safe for a few more days. You can come back another time and finish this then. This is bear-ly your first time fighting so much, after all!"

Nanako caught Chie's gaze, and they looked at the massive door in front of them together. "We're already here. I mean, I'm tired, but I'm not tired enough not to finish this. Chie?" She couldn't imagine leaving when she knew Yukiko was so close to them. That would be like... giving up. _I won't back down._

"Y-yeah. I think we should finish this, too."

"Besides, tomorrow's school," Nanako said. "We'll be just as tired after school as we are now."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. I don't think school is as tiring as fighting these Shadows," Chie said.

"Are you sure we're in the same class? I'd rather fight demons than learn trigonometry any day!"

Chie laughed with her, somewhat weakly, and then Nanako pushed open the door.

The room was a spacious chamber, and the red carpet led to a raised dais that contained a golden throne. Behind the throne was a red and gold banner depicting a heart with wings.

A human figure stood by the throne, facing away from them. "Yukiko!" Chie shouted as she ran towards her.

It was the real Yukiko—Nanako knew because she was wearing a pink kimono as opposed to the Shadow's frilly princess dress. Yukiko didn't seem to hear them.

"W-wait," Nanako said, sensing a trap. The Shadow was nowhere in sight.

"Chie..." Yukiko murmured. Nanako grabbed Chie's wrist to stop her from running up to her friend. Chie almost broke away from her grip.

Yukiko turned her head up, and a pink-clad figure with beautiful, flower-like fans appeared before her. "Konohana Sakuya," she murmured. Yukiko fell to her knees, and this time Nanako didn't stop Chie from supporting her.

Nanako turned her back on the tearful reunion and mulled it over. Yukiko had accepted her Shadow... She must have a strong heart.

"So who threw you in here?" Teddie asked, ruining the moment. Nanako glared at him.

"My memory is a blur," Yukiko said quietly. She was leaning heavily against Chie. "I think I heard my name, but I don't know whose voice it was... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Nanako told her. "What matters right now is that you're safe. We should get you home. You must be exhausted."

"I am, yes," Yukiko whispered. "This fog hurts my eyes."

"W-well, I haven't had time to make glasses for you, but these were meant for Boss!" Teddie said. "You can use them instead." He handed her a pair of pink-framed glasses. By pure coincidence, they matched her kimono rather well.

Yukiko put them on and her eyes widened at how clear her sight was. "Oh, thank you... But who are you...?"

"I'm Teddie! I live in this world!"

"And now you have a castle to live in, I guess," said Nanako. "Yukiko, are you aware that you made this place with your mind?" _Hell's Castle. You made it. It's all yours._

"I did...?" Yukiko frowned. "I really can't remember much... I'm sorry."

"I guess you didn't really need a prince after all," Chie said. "Nanako had me all ready for a fight, but you went and accepted your Shadow."

"I did," Yukiko said. She looked up into her friend's face. "It was all because of you, Chie. When you told me how important I was to you the other day, I... I understood." She was blushing now, but there was a smile on her face as well.

"That's awesome," Nanako said. "It really is."

* * *

They spoke with Yukiko, explaining more about their power of Persona and the TV World, when suddenly they were interrupted.

"Hey... Hey! Nanako-san! Chie! Are you there?"

"What, _Yosuke?_ " Chie exclaimed.

Yosuke was holding Nanako's navigation string tightly, and by the way he turned his head, it was obvious that he couldn't see them even though they were only a few feet in front of him. He didn't have anti-fog glasses.

"What are you doing here, Yosuke? You're supposed to be holding the rope!" Nanako chided. "Well, I guess it's okay, because we have Teddie to get us out, but still!"

"The rope snapped!" Yosuke said. He was still trying to locate them by sight and failing. "A customer was about to come by, and I pulled the rope and it broke. I panicked and tried to grab the end in the TV before it fell all the way in, but then I ended up falling in myself. Then, since I was here, and you said you were fighting monsters and all, I thought I could help."

"Well, we already took care of—" Nanako began.

"Thought you could help? What a load of crap!" From the corner of the room strode a figure that made Nanako sigh.

"Wh-what?" Yosuke squawked. "Why does it look like me?"

It was, of course, Yosuke's Shadow. _The detail on these Shadows,_ Nanako thought, _is pretty impressive. It even has the same set of headphones._

"Don't delude yourself!" the Shadow yelled. "All you wanted was to have fun! You were glad when the rope broke because it gave you an excuse to come in. Because you're so afraid of being left behind. Of being alone, of being forgotten, of being... useless!"

"That's... that's not true!" Yosuke shouted back. "What are you!? Who are you!?"

"I'm you! There's nothing I don't know about you! Like how sweet you are on Saki-senpai. Her brother's death is the perfect excuse to get closer to her!"

"NO! Y-you're not..." Yosuke's whole body was shaking in denial.

"It's okay, Yosuke!" Nanako said quickly. "It's—"

" _Don't interrupt, bitch!_ "

Even the Shadow seemed surprised at its own words as a pregnant hush fell over the room. The atmosphere seemed to drop by ten degrees.

"In that case," Nanako murmured. "Yosuke! That's not you!" She lifted her naginata into the air and brought it down on the Shadow, which tried to skate away, but she caught its leg with a backhand swing and it tripped. It growled at her from the floor.

"Yeah! You're not me!"

As Yosuke denied his Shadow, it transformed into a monster. It seemed to be a giant frog with camouflage-patterned skin and a big yellow mustache. A dark figure with a long red scarf and large yellow gloves was riding its back. Yosuke himself fell down, unconscious.

"All right, girls," Nanako said. "Let's kick its ass!"

Green blades of wind swept up from the ground under her, stinging her eyes and cutting into her skin, but it didn't stop her from summoning Izanami to douse the Shadow with water. All the water seemed to do, however, was make it wet. Well, it was a frog, so it probably liked water.

Chie tried an ice attack, but the Shadow seemed to shrug it off. It then swatted her with its oversized hand, knocking her back.

"Konohana Sakuya!"

Yukiko's Persona was as graceful as a dancing swan, or perhaps flamingo—it was rather pink after all. It swept up its wing-like fans and flames shot out at the Shadow. The fire grew in intensity like a bonfire around it. The Shadow cowered and screamed.

"Awesome, Yukiko!" Nanako said. But even though the flames had dissipated, she didn't think Izanami's water would be a good follow up. Nanako switched to one of her new Personas, Ukobach. The little green gremlin-like demon sent a fireball at the Shadow, but its fire was pitifully small compared to Yukiko's. Hmm, she'd have to ask Igor what was up with that.

The Shadow charged up, and then swept wind under them again. Really, was it trying to look up their skirts...? Well, it was Yosuke, after all... He definitely seemed the type.

Nanako hissed as the attack stung. Then light covered her body, and Nanako saw a flash of pink and felt much better. Ah, it seemed Yukiko's Persona could also heal. _That's great,_ she thought. Now she could focus on raw power herself!

She switched to Omoikane, the brain with tentacles. The lightning it produced knocked the frog flat on its back. She cheered as it squealed and then Chie attacked with her.

Yosuke's Shadow didn't survive the assault. Upon defeat, it turned back into its humanoid form, a calm, yellow-eyed Yosuke staring blankly at nothing.

The real Yosuke groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. "Did anyone get the number of that truck...?"

"Yosuke," Nanako said. "I lied. That really is a part of you. I just wanted to beat it up."

"Huh...?" he said, then he spotted his Shadow. "Oh... Nanako-san, I... That's not me..."

"It's okay," she told him with as real a smile as she could manage. "Look, I understand you're worried about being left behind. And that you want your life to be a little more exciting. Hell, that's pretty much my life's idiom! But I'll tell you this." She walked over to the Shadow and slapped its back in a friendly manner. "If you accept your evil dark side, I guarantee you'll be on my team."

"My evil dark side...?" he repeated. Then he sighed and walked towards his Shadow. "All right. You win. I was bored and upset about being left behind. Chie and Nanako-san were going to have all the fun without me..."

The Shadow nodded and flashed into its new form. It looked similar to the monster they'd defeated, only without the frog, although its face seemed vaguely frog-like. It even sported the same red scarf. "Jiraiya," Yosuke whispered. "This is my Persona..."

"Okay," said Nanako briskly. "Now that that's over with, let's get the hell out of here, okay? We'll talk about this tomorrow or something. I need sleep!"

* * *

Souji didn't say a word, but Nanako saw him watching her with quiet concern from over his takeout box at the dinner table that evening. "Yeah, I might be getting sick again!" she told him in an overly chipper voice. "It must be the fresh air out here. I'm used to Tokyo's skanky pollution, you know!"

"Is there enough medicine...?" he asked quietly, seeing right through her feigned cheerfulness.

She told him she'd be fine as long as she went to bed early, which she did, although she felt a little sad that she was leaving him out there in the living room all alone. He was a self-sufficient kid, though... She predicted he went to bed on time every night like clockwork. If she was him and lived without supervision like that, she'd totally stay up late every night watching bad television, the stuff her dad didn't want her to see. But she'd never been 'scarred for life' or whatever. If anything, her worldview had been expanded.

But she was aware that she was 'special,' so...

And she was also not only six years old. Before she drifted off, she wondered if Aunt Seta had any parental controls set in place on the TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have introduced Marie here since we're not going to do anything with her for quite a long time. Readers should note that with her around, we are indeed following Golden's events (the game, not the anime). Well, to a point... Not everything it added was worth anything, hehe. 
> 
> Next Chapter: Roll Call
> 
> Nanako begins to investigate the circumstances surrounding Yukiko's kidnapping. There is also fun with social links, and the team gets named! (PS: it's not the 'Investigation Team,' heh heh)


	7. Roll Call

[4/18: Monday]

Nanako whimpered in bed the next morning. She felt like she'd been thrown into the washing machine and had tumbled around in it all night. She was aching all over, sure that even her bruises had bruises. But even though it was very difficult—nay, painful!—to get out of bed, she was satisfied. They'd done it. They'd foiled the killer by rescuing his—or her, Nanako was equal-opportunity here—intended victim.

Of course, nothing was stopping the killer from trying again. She wondered how soon the killer would realize he or she had been thwarted. Was the killer familiar with the inner workings of the TV World? Did they know how the Shadows were affected by weather? According to Teddie, it was all about the fog. If someone was in the TV World when it was severely foggy in the real world, the person would die because the Shadows would become violent. Nanako didn't get it—weren't the Shadows already violent? 

The killer had acted so quickly. Mayumi Yamano died Tuesday, Naoki Konishi on Friday, and Yukiko had been in the TV World by midnight on Saturday night... Nanako had only just rolled into town a week ago.

It meant that she had to act quickly, too. She glanced at her rows of Loveline manga on the shelf and decided it was time to start investigating.

Except that she had to go to school. On the bright side, it was another sunny day. She didn't know if she could manage to lift an umbrella over her head the entire way to school. Her arms felt like jelly, like she'd been pumping iron and she was even now still carrying the weights. She supposed she sort of had, what with waving that naginata around so much yesterday. Working out was something she'd never really considered, but it was probably a good thing, what with all the takeout she was eating. It was too bad she didn't know how to cook anything but ramen.

She'd have to do that, too: start a training regimen. Hmm, she should start a one for her friends, too, whip them all into shape. Chie was doing great, but she was focusing too much on her lower body. Yukiko looked fragile, like a porcelain doll, but she probably had strength of some sort. They'd have to decide on a weapon that would fit her. Yosuke was rather thin and reedy and probably had a high metabolism. If he worked with knives like he planned, he'd probably focus more on agility than strength, and that would probably suit him.

Ugh, her muscles were too sore to think about training. She needed to buy some muscle rub, that's for sure. She'd planned for many things, but not that.

She was in the middle of changing oh-so-slowly when her phone began to ring, and it wasn't a number in her contact list. Thinking it might be Yukiko—perhaps Chie had given her number to her—Nanako answered with her bra only half-way on. "Heya~" _Are you aware that you kind of caught me in a compromising position?_

"Hello..." said a mature female voice. "I realize this is sudden, but it's Margaret. We met at the Velvet Room."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I don't know another Margaret," Nanako said. It was a very Western name, after all. "What's up? And how did you get my number?"

"We residents of the Velvet Room have some insight into the hearts of our guests."

"My phone number is written on my heart? Well, okay." _Are you sure it's my heart and not my mind?_

"I am calling to remind you that there is more to combat than the physical—"

"Wow, you really did read my mind!" Nanako exclaimed, since physical training was exactly what she'd been thinking of before the call.

Margaret did not answer.

"Uh, I mean, do go on, please. I am listening."

The articulate woman told her that Social Links were just as important to develop as her strength and her Personas.

While Margaret went on, Nanako was reminded of how time seemed to stop for a moment when she acquired a new Social Link. Not long, about ten to fifteen seconds. The next time it happened, she'd have to see if she could move during it. The ability to stop time could be very useful indeed.

But man, she really didn't need to be told to make friends. She was pretty outgoing, anyway. Then she wondered how many different arcana there were and how many links she had to make. This could get complicated. And how would she know when someone was going to be important to her? It would suck if she buttered up some random guy and he turned out to be normal and she'd wasted her time.

Eh, she would just trust her instincts. Maybe her Personas would give her some hints, too. Igor had said something about the 'bonds' of her 'Social Links' giving them strength somehow.

She thanked Margaret for the tip, and after ending the call she tried to put the number into her contact list, but to her surprise, it didn't show up in her call log, as if the woman had never called her at all.

* * *

On the way to school, Nanako spied Yukiko being hassled by a group of other students. Chie was at her side, hands on her hips, defending her. What was the big deal? Nanako moved closer and discovered that everyone was curious as to where Yukiko had been over the weekend. Nanako hadn't been aware of it, but Yukiko's parents had apparently reported her disappearance to the police, and now people thought she'd run away from home or something. What a pain.

But better having to deal with dumb rumors than being dead, Nanako decided. Besides, Yukiko had Chie to help her get rid of the more persistent badgers. It seemed like the excuse she was giving them was that she'd been sick. From her time in the TV World, she even looked the part, what with the circles under her eyes. She claimed her parents had missed her because she was asleep and therefore couldn't answer the phone or the door to her room. The story held up until people looked more deeply into it, which fortunately no one seemed to be doing.

Nanako had wanted to have a nice long talk with Yukiko, but by the end of the school day, the girl was looking too harried. It could wait, Nanako decided. Besides, she had other things to do.

Like investigating! She'd been thinking about it all day during class, and the Amagi Inn was probably the best place to start. She was sure she could ask around there for information without getting in Yukiko's way. The sooner she asked, the more likely people would be to remember the circumstances of her disappearance.

And mayyybe she had an ulterior motive. Maybe she could at least see check out the hot springs. Oh, did that sound heavenly... Her muscles were screaming for it!

The Amagi Inn was on the northern outskirts of town, a bus ride away. She supposed it made sense that it was far away. It was a tourist attraction, after all, and its isolation was probably part of its charm. Visitors would feel like they're really getting away from it all.

It was definitely old, she thought when she looked at it. Very... traditional. It probably had the shoji and the fusuma and the tatami mats and floor futons in every room. There probably wasn't a chair to be found—zabuton only. If you're lucky, there'd be zaisu instead...

Nanako was too young to have much respect for tradition, really.

Instead of entering the inn, she walked down the side path which weaved through a garden. There she met a groundskeeper and played her 'I'm from Tokyo, what is all this?' card to get him talking. He was friendly enough and she learned all about different breeds of Japanese pine. From there she segued into more important questions about how the inn worked, and even more importantly did you happen to see the young Amagi girl on Saturday at all...?

She discovered that most of the inn considered Yukiko their little princess. The inn, then, was her castle, and from there it was no wonder her mind had created that place in the TV World... but it didn't explain why it was so hellish. Actually, maybe it wasn't demonic and simply reflected Yukiko's love of the color red. There hadn't been any anarchy symbols or demon summoning circles in there, after all. Not one dribbly candle, although she remembered a few intricate chandeliers.

After she was sure she'd gleaned as much information as she could from this man, she entered the inn from a side door and randomly found the laundry room, where a nice old lady was folding sheets. Nanako offered to 'help out' and the woman accepted, and so the interrogation began once again.

Then she'd sneaked away and found the changing area for the hot springs, but since she was not a patron, she was caught by a not-so-friendly man and asked to leave the premises until she could afford to be there.

But her primary goal had been accomplished. She now had a much clearer picture of what had happened on Saturday. The inn had been crazy busy because of a sudden influx of tourists morbidly interested in the death of Mayumi Yamano and wanting to stay there for the weekend. Nanako recalled that Yukiko had skipped school that Saturday (She remembered because she'd been thinking, 'Damn I shoulda skipped too.') because her parents had seriously needed her help.

Because it was so busy, most employees hadn't kept tabs on the inn's most precious asset. But one particular fellow recalled that he'd last seen Yukiko answering the delivery door in the back of the inn. He'd heard a truck's engine, too, and then he'd been called away, but he hadn't seen her after that, and even more interesting was there had been no delivery that day. In fact, they hadn't even been expecting one.

Still, if the killer had kidnapped Yukiko by pretending to be a delivery man, well, how could he be certain Yukiko would be the one to answer the delivery door? It seemed a precarious plan. And with the inn so busy, wouldn't it have been dangerous? He could easily have been caught in the act.

At the same time, the inn being busy could work to the killer's advantage as people wouldn't notice one more person around. A wolf in sheep's clothing, so to speak. Yukiko had been seen speaking with several different people throughout the day, and none could identify anyone unusual in particular. Nanako hypothesized that the killer had the truck parked in the back and sneaked into the inn to find his prize. Conveniently, his intended victim had answered the door and made his job super easy.

So the only info she'd learned was that the killer probably had a truck. Way to go, Nanako...

Well, it was a start, anyway. And besides, how many people had trucks in this small town? Couldn't be too many. If only someone had seen it.

Her phone rang, yet another number she didn't have in her contact list. "Yo," she answered.

"'Yo,' yourself. It's Yosuke. I asked Chie for your number."

"What, too chicken to ask yourself?" she teased.

"You already left the classroom before I could," he explained. "I wanted to talk to you after class, but you can move when you're determined, huh?"

"Heh heh..."

"So, Nanako-san, can we talk?"

"We're talking now, right?" she pointed out. "What's on your mind?"

"I meant in person. Are you busy?"

Nanako looked out at the setting sun. The sky on the horizon was a beautiful creamy pink. A little deeper and it would be the same shade as her Loveline umbrella. "Uh, I kind of need to get home for dinner. Can it wait 'til tomorrow?" Besides, she wasn't even in town. She was still waiting at the bus stop near the inn.

"Do you think you could sneak out of the house after that? I dunno, I just..." He sighed.

This town felt like it probably had a curfew, but she had no qualms about breaking it. "No problem. Where do you wanna meet?"

He asked if she knew how to get to the shopping district on her own, and she agreed to meet him there later.

* * *

Dinner was ramen soup from a place called Aiya. Upon tasting it, Nanako sighed in delight because it was so good and then again in resignation because she'd never hope to match it. The beef flavor overwhelmed the senses because it was authentic and not made from bouillon or little flavor packages.

After eating and making sure her cousin was settled in front of the television and watching age-appropriate cartoons, she asked if it was okay if she left the house. "Don't worry, I'll lock the door."

"You're going out...?" Souji asked, blinking at her. Did he look troubled? It was hard to tell.

"Y-yeah..."

After a moment he said, "Okay," and turned back to the TV.

She sighed to herself upon locking the door behind her. Her little hermit of a cousin... She had no qualms about breaking curfew, but leaving him all alone left a poor taste in her mouth.

...This social link had better be worth it!

Inaba was creepy after nightfall. It really was. She wasn't alone on the streets, so it wasn't a ghost town, but it was just so quiet compared to Tokyo. Any noise seemed extra loud in the overwhelming silence. A conversation from a side alley came to her ears crystal clear, and a dog barking to itself in the distance instilled a sense of loneliness.

The streets were also rather dark and not very well lit. It was lucky the moon was almost full, otherwise she might be tempted to use her pocket flashlight.

Fortunately the lighting around the central shopping district was bright enough despite most of the stores being closed. Probably to deter vandals, she decided. Hmm, so this was the shopping district. Honestly, she hadn't a chance to explore it yet. Now would be a good a time as any.

Ah! There was that gas station she'd been to last week. It was closed. It was probably the only gas station in town. There was no sign of that creepy guy who'd wanted to shake her hand. _You're supposed to exchange business cards when you do that,_ she thought. Not that she had any of her own, but still.

She walked briskly past that place, just in case. Next to it was a bookstore and then... Whoa, a very elaborate, impossibly transparent blue door. Why exactly was there a Velvet Room door right here...? Oh, so she could visit without entering the TV, probably. Could Yosuke wait a few more minutes?

Of course he could. She took out the key and strode through the door.

"Hey Igor!" she greeted.

He lifted his fingers in welcome, but Margaret was the one who asked her how they could help.

"Well, lady, I got all these Persona cards and someone told me he could make bigger and better ones...?"

"Ah, you wish to utilize fusion..."

"Yeah! What can you make with bondage angel and upskirt nymph...?"

Nanako spent a long time learning about Fusion Forecast, the Persona Compendium, and skill inheritance rules. She also made some sweet new Personas that she couldn't wait to show off to Chie. Unfortunately it burned through almost all of her allowance because Igor's services weren't free. It's probably how he could afford so much brandy...

When she returned to the shopping district, Yosuke was calling her name. She turned her head and saw him walking towards her. He was still wearing his Yasogami uniform. Well, so was she, to be fair. "What's that key?" he asked.

Hmm? Oh, she was still holding the Velvet Key. It was rather conspicuous and didn't fit that well in her jacket pocket. "It's for this big blue door."

He looked at her politely and waited for her to continue.

"The one that's right here in front of me?"

"That's... a wall," he said slowly.

 _Yeah, I really am special,_ she thought, _and now even Yosuke knows it._

"A-anyway!" she rallied on. "What was so important that you made me come all the way out here after dark when by all rights I should be nice and safe at home?"

He looked stricken, and Nanako realized Yosuke was a bit sensitive to her chastisement. With Chie he'd have made a silly joke, but maybe he didn't know Nanako well enough. He still called her '-san' after all. "Umm, w-well, I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday..."

"Oh, about your evil dark side?"

"Yeah. What was that...?"

Nanako explained as well she could that apparently in the TV World, a person's suppressed emotions could manifest like that and turn into a monster. Denying its words would trigger the transformation. "It happened to Chie, too. I had to kick its ass, and all by myself, too!"

"What, Chie had one?" he exclaimed. "I thought it was just me!" His shoulders relaxed; he was quite relieved to hear that. She realized he'd probably been carrying that like a burden all day.

"Yeah!" said Nanako. "She didn't tell you? I guess we haven't been all that communicative, have we? I'll be honest, Yosuke-kun. I didn't want to tell you about our Personas, mainly because I was too damned tired after getting mine, but also because I didn't want you to feel left out. So much for that, huh?" She laughed lightly so that he'd know she wasn't upset about it.

"The rope really did break..." he said, his eyes downcast. Then he looked up at her. "Hey, if you had to save Chie, then who saved you when your Shadow came out?"

"Oh, I didn't have a Shadow. Because I'm special." She said it easily, but it troubled her a little. She supposed it was because she was the first to have the power. It had to start somewhere, right? Speaking of the power, she added, "By the way, you can probably enter the TV World on your own now, but I'm going to make it Rule #2 that we never go in there alone. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, I can see that. Say, what was Chie's Shadow like?"

"A dominatrix," she replied without shame.

Yosuke laughed. "R-really...? Uh... I meant more like what it said."

 _It was worried I was trying to get into Yukiko's pants. Or kimono, I guess._ "You know, I think maybe Chie should be the one to tell you."

"That's not fair, everyone saw mine..."

"Let's just say that Chie and Yukiko are best friends," Nanako said, "and maybe they had some doubts about that which needed to be resolved."

Yosuke seemed to mull that over. "Hey, Nanako-san... Can we go into the TV World tomorrow? I want to... practice, I guess. See what Jiraiya can do. It seems like he has wind skills."

"Good, because I just got rid of bondage angel."

"...what?"

"Never mind!"

Yosuke watched her for a bit, then continued. "Umm, there was something else my Shadow said..."

"About Saki-senpai?" she guessed.

"Y-yeah... I-I'm not using her brother's death to get close to her. I promise. That's just..."

"Feeling sorry for someone isn't really a good basis for a relationship," Nanako said, not intending to preach, but really, he needed to know this. "Besides, she might already have a boyfriend."

When he asked how she knew, she explained how they'd heard Naoki talking about it in the TV World.

Nanako could tell he was trying to hide his dejection, but since he was a sensitive guy, his emotions were pretty easy to read. "She really shouldn't have been leading you on," she added, not unkindly.

Yosuke looked away. "...I'm used to it." When she stared at him, he sighed. "Back in the city, I was used to people being nice to me just to use my store discount at Junes. And here I'm the store manager's son, so... This is just the next level, right?" He sounded like he accepted it, but his eyes were definitely wet.

"Damn! I went shopping and I didn't even think about using your discount!" she declared. He smiled a little at that and murmured that maybe she really was special. She smiled back and assured him that he'd prove himself tomorrow in the TV World. "Come on. Let's go home. We're both gonna need the rest."

* * *

[4/19: Tuesday]

Sports teams were recruiting at school, but Nanako didn't have time for that. She was running her own team now, anyway! Yeah, no one had appointed her the leader, but there was no doubt that she was the one in charge. In fact, she'd kind of ordered everyone to meet up at the Junes food court. Yukiko had tried to cut out because she was still tired, but Nanako just stared her down in the same way Adachi had stared down that cop interrogating Yosuke the other day, and she'd given in. You could learn from adults, you really could.

There was a long rectangular wooden table at the food court meant for large parties. It had bench seating—it was probably more at home at a public park. Regardless, Nanako had grabbed an external chair and seated herself at the head of the table. Yosuke was on the bench at her right, and Yukiko and Chie were next to each other to her left.

Nanako ahem'd. "I call to order the first official meeting of Nanako's DEATH Squad. First order of business: Yosuke, go buy me a drink with your discount."

"Wh-what?" Yosuke squawked. "What's with that name?"

"It's the name of our team," she told him. "Nanako's DEATH Squad. The 'DEATH' is in all caps. Very important."

"Why's your name have to be in it?" he further protested, crossing his arms. "Come on..."

"What, you wanna challenge me for leadership? That's how it works in Nanako's DEATH Squad. It's like a wolf pack. If you beat me, then you're the new alpha."

Yosuke tilted his head. "N-no, I think I'm okay. But that name is ridiculous. Come on, you girls have to agree!"

Chie was just sort of laughing, but Yukiko had a dreamy look. "DEATH Squad has a nice ring to it..." she commented.

"Yes! I knew you'd approve!" Nanako said, flashing Yosuke a victorious smirk. "Anyway, why isn't there a drink in front of me yet?"

"I thought you weren't going to abuse my discount..." he muttered.

"I never said that. And you owe me for getting you unarrested, anyway! Adachi-san suggested ice cream, but I'm feeling generous so just get me a Dr. Salt NEO."

A few minutes later Yosuke produced drinks for everyone. Chie complained about the lack of steak in the order, but otherwise everyone sans Yosuke was satisfied.

"Anyway," Nanako went on after taking a long sip of her soda. "We need to lay some ground rules. Rule #1, as everyone knows, is don't throw people into the TV, even as a joke. As an extension, don't show off your TV-entering power because... uh... we don't wanna give anyone a heart attack, or attract attention. None of us want to end up in a science lab somewhere, right?

"Rule #2 is no one goes in alone. As an extension of this rule, I'm gonna say no one goes in alone and without letting everyone else know. So let's all exchange phone numbers, okay? I've already got Chie and Yosuke, so, Yukiko, if you'll be so kind." She opened her phone and looked at the girl.

"Oh, I didn't actually program your number in mine," Yosuke told Nanako. "So... what's your number?"

Nanako ordered him to hand over his phone. She programmed it in herself and gave it an awesome ring tone. Heh, she was kind of excited to call him, now, just to make him go 'what' when it rang.

When that was over, Nanako went on to the next order of business. "Yukiko, I know you don't remember much, but maybe I can jog your memory. It's Saturday afternoon. Maybe evening, maybe after dark. I don't know. But anyway, you're at the inn, and suddenly you get a call for a delivery. What. Happens. Next?"

"A delivery?" Yukiko repeated, her voice a murmur. "Well, either I or my parents have to sign it off in the Amagi name."

"So to an outsider, it's a one-third chance that you'd be the one to answer the delivery door, yes?"

"I suppose... but my mother is ill, so that would cut it to half. We weren't expecting a delivery that Saturday. I remember being confused about it when I was told to answer the door."

"Ah! Who told you to answer the door?" Nanako requested. It could be... an accomplice!

"My father, actually. He was busy with our hot springs technician because we had a faulty reading on one of the temperature regulators."

"I doubt it was an inside job," Nanako murmured. "Well, so you answered the door and then you were nabbed? Did you see anything?"

"Oh, yes, I do remember something!" Yukiko's eyes brightened suddenly.

"Yes, yes?" Nanako pressed on eagerly.

"The person shined a light into my face, and since it was dark out, I couldn't see. Then I smelled something sweet, and after that I woke up in the castle."

"Chloroform, probably," Nanako said with a sigh. "Interesting about the light, though. Clever, actually. That would blind you long enough to give the kidnapper time to chloroform you, no problem."

"There's not much you can do to defend against that, either," Yosuke contributed. "Unless you go around with one eye closed all the time. Here's something I don't think we've addressed yet. I think all of the victims, including Yukiko-san, were seen on TV before they were taken in."

"Yes, we know about the Midnight Channel," Chie said, rolling her eyes.

"I mean _actual_ TV. Ms. Yamano was a newscaster, and Naoki was interviewed on the news because he'd discovered her body. And then Yukiko-san was interviewed in a segment shown on Friday."

"Oh, yes..." said Yukiko. "I remember that now. A lot of people have been wanting to film at the inn. It's becoming a problem."

"I wish people would mind their own business!" Chie snapped.

Nanako drummed her fingers on the hard wood of the table. Was the culprit one of the people filming that news segment? They specifically sought out people who'd then be targeted? No, that was looking at it backwards. The killer saw them on the segment and then wanted to kill them? That didn't make any sense either. And what did the Midnight Channel have to do with all this? The killer saw them on the Midnight Channel and that was his sign to KILL. Ugh, could her hypotheses get any sillier?

She shook her head. "Well, that's interesting, but lots of people get interviewed on the news, so I'm not sure we can identify the next target by watching. It's worth a shot, though, so that'll be your job, okay, Yosuke?"

"Sure, I can do that." He winked at her, which was weird, but he seemed to do that a lot.

"Chie," she continued. "I want you to keep an eye on Yukiko. Maybe the killer will know he—or she—has been stopped and will target her again. I don't want to take that chance."

"Y-yeah," Chie agreed. "I'm fine with that." She exchanged a glance with Yukiko and Nanako suspected they might be holding hands under the table.

Nanako stood up. "Well, that's enough sitting around. Even though I'm still sore as hell from Sunday, I promised Yosuke-kun we'd start training today. Are you all ready?"

As the group agreed, Nanako heard that familiar sound of something shattering, and prepared to move during the time stop.

_I am thou..._

She moved. Yes, she could move!

_Thou art I..._

She grabbed Yosuke's half-empty cup of soda and shoved her own straw into it.

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

She drank down the rest of his soda, which was Orange Smash, and pulled her straw out...

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana..._

And placed the cup back down just in time. She sat back quickly and then time began to flow again.

"All right," she said. "We're going in. I'm excited, actually. We can learn to work as a team! Nanako's DEATH Squad. Hmm, I'll have to come up with a motto."

"Three cheers for Nanako-san?" Yosuke suggested. He seemed to have come to terms with the team name now. Or maybe he was poking fun at her. It was hard to tell.

"Nah, that'll be our victory cry," Nanako told him. "Or at least when I make the finishing blow." _Which will be often,_ she told herself. _I'm special, after all._ She knew now that by 'special' Igor meant her 'wild card' ability to utilize more than one Persona, unlike her friends... but though she knew the proper terminology, she just wanted to continue calling herself special. Who wouldn't?

Everyone stood up to leave the food court, but before leaving, Nanako noticed Yosuke frown at his empty cup of soda. She had to look away to hide her evil smile. It was for his own good, really. Now he was less likely to need to use the bathroom.

They entered the big TV at Junes without too much ceremony. Nanako had Yosuke enter first so that he could see that he indeed had the power to enter on his own now. Yukiko followed him with Chie right on her tail, and Nanako went in last.

Teddie was right there waiting for them on the stage backlot. "Boss! And Boss's friends!"

"That's right!" Nanako said buoyantly. "Teddie, did you make glasses for Yosuke-kun?"

"I sure did, Boss! Here you go, Yosuke!" Teddie handed out a pair of orange-framed glasses. The bear had taste, that was for sure. They looked good on Yosuke and matched with his ever-present orange headphones.

With the glasses on, Yosuke noted how the fog was gone. Nanako informed him that it would stop them from getting tired so easily. Apparently the way the fog moved affected the eyes and exhausted the body, or something... It was the TV World, so that was as good an explanation as any, really.

"So Teddie... lives here?" Yosuke asked, eyeing the bear critically. "Why? Where did you come from?"

"I don't know," Teddie replied. "All I know is that I've always lived here, just me and the Shadows, and it used to be peaceful and now it's not. You've got to help Boss make it better!"

"'Boss'? You really have an ego, don't you, Nanako-san?" Yosuke said with an amused chuckle.

"It's _Nanako's_ DEATH Squad," she replied. "Not Yosuke's. Nanako's. I'm the boss."

"Y-yeah, okay," he said. "Teddie... Are you sure you aren't a circus clown who fell into the TV? You have a zipper, so I think you're just a guy in a costume."

"Teddie is Teddie," the bear said, as if that answered everything. "But Teddie is not a human."

Nanako watched the bear with narrowed eyes. Yosuke noticed her thoughtful expression. "Nanako-san, you're not going to let him get away with that, are you?"

"At the same time," Nanako said, "what if he's, like, a naked old man who's been in here for decades?"

"Only one way to find out, right?" Yosuke grabbed Teddie by the arm, and the bear flailed to get away.

"No!" Teddie cried as Nanako caught his other arm. "B-Boss! I thought we were friends!"

Nanako nodded at Yosuke over the bear's head and together they unzipped the costume.

And then backed away quickly, because there was nothing inside it.

"Whoa!" Chie exclaimed. "He's really empty!"

Teddie's lower body, somehow standing up on its own, waved its stubby arms and tried to get its head back from Yosuke, who was standing there kind of stunned. "Th-that's not normal..."

"It's the TV World," Nanako said with a sigh. "We should have known. Calm down, Teddie, we'll put your head back on."

Once his head had been reunited with his body, Teddie moved to the far side of the stage and began pouting and whining about how rude they were.

"Sorry, Teddie, but we had to know. We're... very curious people," Nanako said soothingly. "We wanna know all about this world, and all about you, too."

The bear perked up. "You... want to know about me?"

"Sure. Why not? You're part of Nanako's DEATH Squad, too. Support division."

Teddie wiggled his ears. "All right! I'll do my best!"

Nanako ordered her team into a line for a weapons check after picking up her own naginata from where she had left it the other day on the stage floor. She used it as a walking stick as she moved down the line like a general. Chie clanked the toe of one of her boots against the floor in solidarity. Yosuke was tossing a knife up and down—upon closer examination, the knife had a plastic slip over the blade so that he wouldn't cut himself while he practiced. Yukiko was fanning herself with a Japanese paper fan.

Nanako stopped before Yukiko, who smiled coyly at her from behind the fan. "Yes?" 

"I've been thinking about it," Nanako said, "and I'm not sure what weapon you should use. I wonder if Daidara-san has any hand crossbows or some—what."

Yukiko had thrown her fan and hit Teddie with it. The bear squealed in pain, and Yukiko apologized and summoned her Persona, which bathed the bear in light and mystically fixed the tear in his costume.

"...Works for me," Nanako told her. She continued brightly. "Next up, we'll take stock of what all of our Personas can do." She rummaged in the plastic supply crate and pulled out a clipboard and a pen.

Yukiko's Konohana Sakuya specialized in both fire and recovery. The fire was still way more powerful than anything Nanako could summon, which made her very, very jealous. She'd asked Igor and he'd said that Yukiko's acceptance of her Shadow might have empowered her other self juuust a smidgeon.

Chie's Tomoe specialized in ice and physical strength. The ice wasn't very strong compared to the physical. Nanako suspected that's because Chie would rather have her Persona attack with its double-sided naginata. It was a pretty cool weapon, she had to admit.

Yosuke's Jiraiya specialized in wind. He could also recover, but not to the same extent that Yukiko could. He could only aid one person at a time, whereas she could affect everyone at once. It could serve as an emergency backup, though.

Nanako was pretty satisfied by the diversity of her squad. And what they lacked, she could pick up with her own Personas. "Look what I can do!" she declared. "Persona!"

An armor-clad man with red-orange wings appeared and swung a sword at nothing.

"No more bondage angel! It's now Archangel!" Nanako was very proud that she could summon a male persona.

"That is cool, Nanako-san," Yosuke told her, and she positively glowed. "Umm, Chie said you had others, too?"

Nanako nodded and showed off the next one.

It was a caped warrior woman carrying two swords on a red-maned horse. Valkyrie, she told them. Yes, she was running a theme here...

"Do you still have Izanami?" Chie asked. "You should show him that, since it was your first."

Nanako nodded again. She had actually used Izanami in fusion, but she'd brought the goddess back out via the Compendium. She'd felt empty without her, somehow. Even if it had emptied her wallet!

She also showed them Slime, which looked like green barf puddle with a face, and then a shaggy green dog with huge ears, Cu Sith. She still had Omoikane on hand, too, since it was the only one of them with electricity at the moment.

"How do you get new Personas, anyway?" Chie asked.

"Magic," she said. "Expensive magic." It was easier to explain than the whole Velvet Room thing. "Come on, let's find some Shadows and ruin their day."

They headed to Yukiko's Castle. Their first battle as a team was kind of a mess. Everyone was so excited to use their Personas that there was no coordination, and when Nanako almost got caught in the crossfire between Yukiko's fire and Yosuke's wind, she called a time-out.

"All right! I think we're gonna do this differently. You guys need direction, and since I'm the leader, you're gonna follow my orders, okay?"

They tried again, this time not acting until Nanako told them to. It was still a little shaky—there was some hesitation in response to her commands, which one time led to Yosuke's face getting wrecked by a raven's claws, but she was sure the hesitation would be smoothed out with practice.

 _I'm gonna be hoarse tomorrow,_ Nanako thought, _from shouting all these orders._

As she watched Chie ice up a demon table (complete with silverware), she decided she was happy with her DEATH Squad. They were a bit rough around the edges, but they'd do. They had potential. And maybe with time she'd add more members to the squad...

'Boss!' Teddie suddenly sounded into their minds. 'There's a beary strong Shadow at the top of the castle. It's making my fur stand up!'

"DEATH Squad, assemble!" Nanako shouted. "Let's take that bad boy out!"

However, the top of the castle was far, far away. As it turned out, the TV World had a short-term memory, and the layout of the castle would scramble over time, meaning the string guiding them to the top had been torn to pieces and they had to essentially start all over again.

By the time they fought their way to the top, everyone was too tired to face the dangerous Shadow lurking in the throne room. Another day, perhaps.

* * *

That evening Nanako 'took one for the team' by messing about with her flashlight in the darkness of her room. It really wasn't all that possible to prepare against being blinded by it, although Yosuke's comments about having one eye closed were indeed true. The closed eye would still be able to see in darkness while the other eye was blinded. However, it didn't allow for perfect vision as the afterglow from the blinded eye interfered with the darkness-adjusted eye. Besides, nothing was stopping the killer from blinding the other eye once it was finally opened.

As for defending against chloroform, there wasn't much you could do except not breathe it in. And with a rag in front of your face, that wasn't easy to do. Nanako timed how long she could hold her own breath and it wasn't too long, about a minute and a half. She could probably improve it with practice, though. Maybe she could start doing that when class was boring. Worst case scenario, she fainted in class and had to be sent to the nurse's office. And then she'd be out of class. Win-win, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It bothered me in the game that Yukiko couldn't remember anything about being kidnapped, and that you couldn't investigate it any further. 
> 
> The 'time stop' thing was partially inspired by Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It won't be used for anything plot-important, so don't worry if you find it silly.
> 
> The Yosuke interaction at the shopping district was difficult to write! I have a tendency to either be too nice or too mean to him, hehe. But I think it turned out nice. With this, even though Saki is alive, you can see that his social link won't necessarily be Saki-centric. 
> 
> Next Chapter: Of Kings and Kids
> 
> Nanako's DEATH Squad takes on their biggest foe yet, and Nanako spends quality time with her family.


	8. Of Kings and Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako supports Saki Konishi, gets lectured by a teacher, takes on a part-time job, and learns a little about what makes her aunt tick. The DEATH Squad gets together to battle the Contrarian King.

[4/20: Wednesday]

Nanako decided she could get used to this body-numbing exhaustion. It was exhilarating somehow. The soreness felt like progress.

What she couldn't get used to was Souji's concern. When she winced while bumping into the table, he asked if she was okay.

"I'm totally fine!" she declared.

He didn't look convinced, especially after she winced again when getting up from her seat after breakfast.

"Pain is all in the mind," she told him. "I worked out yesterday. You know. For, uh, sports club."

She hoped he'd be curious enough to ask what sport, but he didn't say anything. Hermit child... She vowed to spend more time with him this coming Sunday after their morning television. Maybe she'd take him to a park or something.

* * *

Nanako told the DEATH Squad that they could relax today. Entering the TV and fighting otherworldly demon things was just too tiring to do every day. Yosuke apparently had to work, so it worked out.

She thought about investigating the murders, but wasn't sure where to start. She considered snooping around at the police station, but that was asking for trouble. She probably wouldn't be able to invoke Adachi-san's name to get her out of any mess, nor was she crude enough to invoke her uncle's name. And her dad's name carried no weight here at all.

Saki Konishi, then, was her goal for today. Nanako found her sitting at the bus stop at the southern end of the central shopping district.

"Saki-senpai," Nanako said, unsure of whether she should be chipper or solemn in addressing the upperclassman.

"Oh... it's you. How are you...?" Saki definitely wasn't the same woman Nanako had met last week. Her brother's death must have hit her hard. Nanako had no siblings, but she thought she could understand.

"How are you holding up?" Nanako asked, sitting down on the bench next to her.

"I'm just holding up, barely," Saki replied. "Life sucks."

Nanako nodded. "Just when you think you've got it all worked out, some shit happens, am I right?"

Saki laughed lightly. "I don't think I ever had it all worked out." She shook her head. "I miss my brother, damn it. My family's just about fallen apart."

"Well, hold it together!" Nanako said. "I'll help you if I can."

"I don't know anymore. My parents hate me. I think... They wish it was me—that I died instead of Naoki."

Nanako recalled what she'd learned from Naoki's memories in the replica shopping district in the TV World. Her family yelling at her for working at Junes, for not taking pride in the family business. "I don't know if I'd go that far. You might want to reconcile with them. Not now, but maybe after some time passes. You're their only daughter, right?"

Saki nodded and sighed.

"I hate to do this to you," said Nanako, "but... what happened? I promise I'm not asking to get gossip or anything."

"I don't know," Saki said, burying her face in her hands so her voice was only a mumble. She sighed again and then leaned back. "I was working late that night. I came home and my parents were panicking because Naoki had gone missing. He'd never come home from school. I know he went to school that day because we walk there together. Usually we walk home together, too, but since I had to work I just went straight to Junes. I didn't see him at all that afternoon."

"That's right, you and Naoki were the first to see that announcer lady's body."

"Y-yeah..." Saki shuddered. "We'd cut out of class early together because it was the first day of school and who cared?" She made a sorrowful face as she obviously regretted that decision.

"A TV antenna, and then a telephone pole. This is messed up. Why would they want to kill your brother?"

"I don't know. The police were worried about the killer going after me next. They questioned me over and over again, thinking maybe Naoki or I saw something to identify the killer. If Naoki knew, he would have told me. He didn't tell me anything. He didn't act any differently so it's not like he was hiding something. Believe me. I knew my brother pretty well. We were two years apart, but I knew him."

"What are you going to do now?"

Although Nanako had asked in a more metaphorical sense, Saki answered, "I was thinking about getting my hair done, but I'm sure people will bother me about it if I do..."

"How do you mean?"

"Like, 'Look at Saki. Her brother's dead and yet she still took the time to look good! She should be in mourning!'"

"Oh, screw them!" Nanako exclaimed. "You've got to take care of yourself! Here, I'll come with and we can get it done together!"

Saki stared at her for a moment and then broke into a smile. "Sure. The bus should be here any minute."

Nanako hadn't anticipated that Saki could be a social link, but sure enough, that shattering sound happened and she was hearing voices in her head. A large crescent moon was depicted on the card in her mind.

* * *

[4/21: Thursday]

Yosuke asked Nanako what was up with her hair the next morning. She was wearing it long instead of tied back, and it had been permed so it was wavy. It wasn't as pretty as Saki's, in her own opinion, because the color was dark, which made it obvious that it was permed, but she was happy enough with it. "Like it?"

"Yeah," Yosuke said. "You should wear your hair down more often."

She wouldn't. She'd already swallowed more than one strand from it flapping into her mouth. Long hair just got in her way too often. Maybe she should get it cut short like Chie.

Besides, Souji had stared at her all night last night because of how different it was from the norm.

She sighed. "Thanks anyway."

"So, umm, Nanako-san..." Yosuke continued. "I don't work today. I was wondering if you had any plans."

"We're going in today!" she told him cheerfully. "We gotta beat up that mega Shadow that's scaring Teddie." Reclaim Hell's Castle from the demon lord, or whatever. "Are you on board with that?"

He leaned forward in his desk in excitement. "Yeah!"

"Good, because 'no' wasn't an option."

* * *

Teddie showed them a way to go straight to the top of the castle. It hadn't been available earlier, and when questioned, the bear said the TV World would memorize their progress somehow. Nanako wasn't going to complain. She needed her team ready to fight this thing, not tired from fighting through several floors of Shadows.

"It's beeeary strong," Teddie warned with a whimper when they were standing outside the huge double-door to the throne room. "Boss, it's scary. I don't think you should go in there."

"We can't get better as a team if we don't face the challenge," Nanako said. "Are you all with me? DEATH Squad."

Yosuke was pumped. He threw up a dagger—without the plastic sleeve—and nimbly caught it. Obviously he had been practicing. "Let's do this!"

"It's _my_ castle," Yukiko said with a sniff.

"Yeah! No squatters allowed!" Chie declared.

Without further ado, Nanako pushed open the door. Inside was a Shadow a few feet taller than Yosuke, who was the tallest member of the squad. It was a cartoonish king with curly white hair, beady little black eyes, an ashen face, and a white mustache. It wore royal red robes and carried a fancy golden scepter. Its pink crown was its arcana mask. Emperor, Teddie told her. He also said its name was the Contrarian King.

Upon seeing them, the King formed a red barrier before himself. Teddie informed them that it would protect the enemy from fire. "Fire, huh?" Nanako mused. "Let us know when it wears off! Yukiko, stand by!"

 _Let's try elemental attacks first,_ she thought. "Chie, ice it up, and Yosuke, try wind!" Nanako herself prepared to use electricity.

The King swung its scepter before Yosuke could manage to summon his Persona, knocking the boy flat off his feet and into a support pillar. "Yosuke! Get back up!" she scolded while simultaneously invoking Omoikane, but he only whimpered and remained on the floor. The electricity grounded itself on the King's crown, but it only stopped him for a second, and then he was swinging his scepter again at Chie. Nanako heard a sickening crunch, but Chie remained standing. In fact, she retaliated by kicking out at the King. "Yeah, Chie! Try and ice it while you kick, maybe!" Nanako suggested, but Chie's face was completely red and she wasn't listening at all.

On the bright side, Chie's next furious kick tripped the King, and it fell backwards. While it was down, Nanako had Yukiko join her in the attack. As Yukiko's fan went sailing by, Nanako wondered at the physics of it and then focused on trying to hack the scepter out of the Shadow's hand with her naginata before it got up again.

The King scrambled to his feet before she succeeded, and then Teddie told her that its Red Wall had worn off. "Yukiko, try fire! Chie, I told you ice, why aren't you listening?"

"Chie's enraged, Boss! She won't listen to anyone like this!"

A large pillar of fire hurtled towards the King, which... laughed? Its mustache twitched like a white worm over its mouth. Yes, it was laughing at them.

"That attack healed it!" Teddie said.

"Oh, you're a bastard," Nanako growled. "Yukiko! Try to get Yosuke—oh shit!"

The king swung its scepter around in a very wide arc. Nanako tried to jump over it, but it ended up catching her legs and sweeping her off her feet. Chie was caught in mid-kick and flung across the room. Nanako scrambled to get up as the King turned its imperious gaze on her.

"Do you still want me to get Yosuke?" Yukiko asked.

"N-no, heal me, dammit!"

Nanako held up her naginata defensively as the King brought the scepter down on her. When Yukiko's Persona bathed her in its healing light, the King seemed annoyed and turned its body to face her.

"Oh no you don't!" Nanako screamed. "Valkyrie!"

The caped horse-riding Norse woman brought her twin swords down on the King, which shrugged off the attack but was, fortunately, distracted.

"That's right, bitch, it's me you want!" Nanako taunted, acting far more confident than she really was what with half her team down for the count. "Yukiko, get one of them up if you can!"

As the King came forward, she invoked Omoikane for its electric attack, and while the bolt of lightning struck the King, she grabbed the scepter and tried to pull it out of its hand. It was like a tug of war, but to her frustration, she lost and the King punted her painfully to the ground with one of its stupid curly-toed boots. Before she could get up, the King was standing over her, the cross-shaped ornament of the scepter pointing towards her stomach. The Shadow was going to skewer her.

"Archang—" she trailed off into a scream of pain; the King's scepter speared through her arm. Was it toying with her?

No, there was Tomoe, slashing at the King from behind. Chie was back! Her surprise attack had thrown off the King's aim. Nanako would live to see another day.

Well, maybe. Her arm fucking hurt. Of course it was her right arm and she was right-handed. She could hardly pull herself up to her feet, it hurt so much.

Before she could summon Izanami to sing her healing prayer, she was already awash with white light. After it faded, her arm still hurt, but to a lesser extent. "Thanks, Yukiko!" she called.

"Silly Boss," said Teddie in her mind. "That was Yosuke!"

Yosuke's back...? Yes, it seemed Yukiko had been able to bring them both back while Nanako had distracted the Shadow. However, Yukiko wasn't looking so good. She wasn't wounded, but she was holding her head, and Nanako knew that meant she wouldn't be able to keep up healing them. They had to end this soon.

"Yosuke! Stay on guard!" Nanako ordered.

"A-all right!" she heard him call back. "My wind didn't seem to do anything to it, anyway."

"You're on heal duty! Chie! Watch out for that damned scepter!"

The King swung it around again. Yosuke dodged it nimbly, but Chie was flung back. Nanako tried to catch it with her naginata but the force ended up snapping her weapon in half. "Cheap shit!" she swore. "Izanami, go!" The goddess's water attack didn't seem any more effective than the lightning had been. 

The scepter was the problem. They had to get it away from him!

She launched herself at the weapon when the King raised it again, but her strength wasn't enough to pull it out of his hands. She didn't let go, hanging on for dear life while he tried to shake her off. He mashed the butt of the scepter on the ground, and the impact made her slide down a few inches, but she held on. An idea came to her. She summoned Omoikane again and tried desperately to aim the lightning to that it'd hit the scepter instead of the crown. It worked, and the King trembled as the electricity traveled through the weapon and singed its hands. Nanako repeated the attack and kicked the King while pulling on the scepter. She hissed as the electricity hurt her, too, but she continued to pull with all her might, and then tried summoning her Persona again to help out. Omoikane obeyed, and with its tentacles also pulling, she was able to wrest the scepter from its hands. She threw it as far across the room as she could manage.

She turned back to the King and grinned wickedly, taunting him. _Whatcha gonna do now?_

He stared for a moment with his beady eyes, and then slapped her hard with his hand.

A crack rang out at the impact, and her nose felt like it'd been smashed in. All Nanako could see was red, an ocean of blood covering her vision. Pain and a sudden, inexorable fury corroded her senses.

She flung herself at the enemy with a primal howl.

* * *

When Nanako came to her senses, it was to a throbbing pain in her right hand. She glanced at it and found that she was gripping the blade to her naginata so tightly that it was cutting deep into the palm of her hand. She blinked at it, unable to remember when she'd picked it up. It was just the blade—what was left of the haft was a splintery mess.

"What happened...?" she murmured. She looked around, and her teammates seemed to be keeping their distance from her.

"Y-you kind of destroyed that Shadow we were fighting," Yosuke said slowly. "Teddie said you went, ugh, 'bearserk.'"

"The King was dethroned!" the bear commented cheerfully. "By an enraptured Queen Boss!"

"...I think I need to sit down," Yosuke muttered, and he did just that, leaning his back heavily against a column. He was trembling slightly from the adrenaline. "My head's killing me. It was all I could do to keep you healed, Nanako-san. It was like you didn't feel any pain at all when you were attacking it."

"You mean I took it out all by myself in a blind rage?" Nanako asked. "That's... kind of frightening."

"I'll say," Chie piped up. "I wasn't sure which one of you was winning the fight. You were both beating each other pretty badly. We were afraid to help."

"Afraid to get in your way more than anything," Yosuke said sheepishly. "You were pretty determined."

"Must've been, if I was using this," Nanako mused. She tossed the broken naginata blade to the floor and asked Yukiko to heal her hand. She checked her body for wounds, but the healing left her flesh clean and pink, and to her surprise, it didn't seem like there were going to be any scars.

Instead there were plenty of bruises. She poked the one in her forearm left behind by the king's scepter and winced because it was sore already. So, this healing thing had its limits...

"That's definitely enough for today," Nanako said, and the others nodded.

"Boss! The Shadow was hiding something!" Teddie cried. The bear was sniffing around the throne. He produced an elegant-looking fan from behind it. Yukiko gasped in delight and Nanako told her to take it. The spoils of battle... Too bad it hadn't been a new naginata.

Maybe Daidara-san had a return policy?

* * *

[4/22: Friday]

Nanako wanted to hang out with Yukiko. She knew the pretty princess was a social link that she'd yet to establish. And she wanted to delve into the mind that had produced that castle. Maybe not too deeply, but she suspected Yukiko was important to get to know. Her Persona was just too awesome not to.

However, Yukiko was always hanging out with Chie. Well, Nanako had essentially ordered the kung fu master to guard her, so she should have expected that, but...

The two girls were already gone when school let out. With a resigned sigh, she turned in her desk to Yosuke behind her, who was messing around with his MP3 player, probably trying to find a particular song to play.

"You doing anything?" she asked.

"Oh, actually, I work today," he replied with a heavy sigh.

"Again?"

"Yeah. A lot of our part-time help make a habit of calling out, so I'm usually stuck making up their shifts. On the bright side, money. On the downside, work."

"Money, yeah," she grumbled mostly to herself. Her aunt gave her an allowance provided by her father, but she'd already used up this week's and wasn't due to receive the next one until Sunday evening. She wanted to appear reliable to her aunt, so asking for the allowance early wasn't an option.

"You could get a part-time job," Yosuke suggested. "There's a board advertising jobs at the central shopping district."

"Me, work?" She made it sound like he'd suggested she kiss him or something. She wrinkled her nose.

"Careful, if you make a face like that, it might stay that way," he teased. "Anyway, I've gotta go. Have a great day, Nanako-san..."

"'At Your Junes,'" she sung to herself as he left the room. Why was that Junes tune so catchy? It felt like it might have meant something to her in another life.

Regardless, she didn't want to work. She wasn't an adult! Only adults slaved away their entire day for a paycheck.

Well, with her entire DEATH Squad away, she didn't have anything to do. She drummed her fingers on the top of her desk, then saw the sports teams' recruitment notice up on the chalkboard. She didn't want to join a team—neither Chie nor Yukiko were on one—and besides she had her own team—but pretending to be interested might earn her some brownie points. She did get a question wrong in class this morning because she had been playing with her hair.

She headed to the faculty office and found Mr. Morooka drinking coffee. It was an interesting sight, him sipping from the cup even with his massive overbite. She'd assumed he'd have to use a straw. He soon spied her. "Dojima! What do you want?" he growled.

"Ehh," she said. _Sports clubs can suck it._ "I was thinking of a Greek myth the other day, but I couldn't remember the name. I was wondering if you could help me?"

"...Are you pulling my leg, young lady?"

He was clearly suspicious of her intentions, so she went on, "It was the myth with the guy and the maze and the ball of string. Kings were probably involved."

"Theseus and the Minotaur, eh? There are several versions of that myth..." He quickly warmed up to the topic. "Queen Pasiphae slept with a bull and then gave birth to the Minotaur, half man and half bull. Her husband, King Minos, had a labyrinth built to house the monster and sent his enemies in there to be eaten by it. Now, the prince went to Athens to participate in one of their many tournaments, and died in it—to the very same bull who'd fathered his half-brother. Infuriated, King Minos ordered King Aegeus of Athens to repay with blood..."

Morooka continued to tell her the entirety of the myth. He was surprisingly animated compared to how he was in class, and he made very few disparaging comments about any of the characters' virtue. It might have been because she was his only audience, or maybe because it was a topic he enjoyed.

"Do you know what the moral of the story is, Dojima?" he asked when he was finished.

"Don't have sex with animals," she replied promptly.

Morooka snorted in his surprise. "You're a straightforward one, aren't you? I'm sure you won't make that mistake." He seemed to be sizing her up.

"No, sir!" Nanako was open-minded about many intimate things, but she drew the line there. Well, now it was time for a serious answer. "One of the morals could be not to make a judgment until you have all the facts. Because the king thought his son was dead just because the flags said so when it was just the captain being an idiot." He seemed to be thinking, so she didn't stop there. "And not to give up, because the maze was dark and confusing and probably had traps and stuff, but Theseus kept going anyway. Not that he had much choice, it was get through it or die, but still."

"Would you say the labyrinth symbolizes the journey through life?" Morooka had a smirk on his face, which she realized was actually his smile.

"Sure, and the string could symbolize spirituality. Like... a sort of guide or anchor to the path." She was stretching it a bit, but... "And leaving the girl asleep on the island symbolizes man's self-destructive nature!"

"Oh, so she likes symbolism, huh?" He chuckled darkly to himself. "You should be careful about that. Everything can be symbolic if you try, and symbolism can be very base. Talk to Freud."

He went on to tell her that, in his understanding, the myth was about mankind's fight against its animalistic nature and its desire to lord over the innocent.

She thanked him for clearing that up for her, and he told her to watch out for bulls. When she made to leave the faculty office, he stopped her. "Wait, Dojima..." He stopped and scowled to himself, then sighed. "I might have another myth to tell you, young lady..."

"If you know a story of a hero brought down by his own hubris, that might be super relevant," she told him, thinking of yesterday's close battle.

"Another day, perhaps," he said. "I gotta grade these damn papers. I swear you brats can't string two words together..."

She blinked as he began to rant because that sound of glass breaking was happening again. _What,_ he's _a Social Link...? The Hierophant..._

She used the time stop to scamper out of the office.

* * *

[4/23: Saturday]

Speaking of Social Links...

Nanako had a lot of them now, which was... good? She was beginning to wonder how important, exactly, they were. Margaret and Igor had been pretty vague about it, and that voice in her head that spoke when she established one told her it would lead her 'closer' to the truth, but she couldn't see how. All she was doing was being friendly to people.

Her best bet was just to ask, so she went to the shopping district and entered the Velvet Room.

"Hey, Igor," she said, wasting no time. "I'm curious. Why are these social links so important?"

Igor's smile remained as enigmatic as always. "The strength of your bonds reflects the strength of your heart."

"And I want a strong heart because..." Nanako made a gesture with her hand for him to continue.

"When you max a bond, you'll get a super Persona," Marie explained. When Margaret shot her a glance, she said, "What? That's what you said."

"That's enough, Marie," Margaret interrupted, the glance turning into a glare that Marie wilted under. Then the woman turned back to Nanako and smiled grimly. "A strong heart will be required to find, and then face, the truth."

"I suppose that makes sense," Nanako said. The truth could be ugly, and dangerous, too, if the killer found out they were after him. Or her. Nanako would have to be dedicated to the case, no matter what happened. Any help would be welcome indeed. 

"By the way," Margaret continued. "Are you visiting, by chance, to take Marie out...?"

"Ah, no," Nanako replied. "I gotta work today. Unless you can give me a discount on some of those Personas?" She eyed the Compendium in the woman's lap. 

Margaret's lips tightened in a 'not a chance' gesture.

Nanako shrugged in a 'there you go' gesture. 

Marie huffed and looked out the window. "I didn't want to go out there, anyway," she claimed.

"You aren't missing anything," Nanako agreed before leaving the room. "Besides, you've got brandy in here. What else could you ask for?"

* * *

It wasn't that Nanako didn't want to take Marie out—the girl was probably another social link—but that after seeing all the cool new (although not quite 'super') Personas available at the Velvet Room that she couldn't afford to create, it was time to seriously consider a new source of income. Her allowance just wasn't cutting it. She forced herself to swallow her pride and take a look at the part-time job board that Yosuke had spoken of. She was already at the central shopping district, anyway, and she didn't have to take any of the jobs if she didn't want to.

Folding envelopes. Hahaha, yeah right. Like she had time for that. The boy standing near the board told her it was a job that could be done before going to bed, that it might be nice to help one focus their mind for sleep. Yeah, she supposed a boring job like that would put her to sleep, no problem. She passed on that.

Translator. Nanako's foreign language knowledge was mostly limited to rap music and curse words. And she was sure it wouldn't be translating anything interesting like that, anyway, so she passed on that.

Gas station attendant. Oh, what... the gas station was hiring. Yeah, no. She went on to the next ad.

Nighttime Hospital janitor. No again. Hospitals were bad enough in the daytime, going at night was just asking for trouble. And janitorial work was totally beneath her.

Daycare assistant. Psh, like she wanted to work with little kids all day—wait a sec. Souji went to daycare on Saturdays. Could she... terrorize her little cousin? Well, it might not be the same daycare he went to, but if she didn't like it, she didn't have to keep the job, right? Working one day couldn't hurt.

She wrote the address in her pocket notebook and asked the boy by the board for directions.

* * *

The shock on little Souji's face upon seeing her in the assistant daycare worker's apron was something she would cherish forever.

Before she could say anything to him, though, the other kids crowded around her at the playground and asked her tons of questions, none of them even waiting for her to respond. "What's your name?" "How old are you?" "Do you go to Yasogami High?" "Can I have some candy?" "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"My name's Nanako," she told them, "but you can call me Boss. By the way, I'm from Tokyo and right now I'm living with Sou-chan!"

When some of the kids turned to Souji curiously, the boy made a face like he'd swallowed something rotten. He didn't like the attention.

"Sou-chan! Is she your big sis?" a little girl with braids asked.

"C-cousin..." Souji whispered.

Yeah, that was enough putting the poor kid on the spot. Nanako said, "Yep, he's my adorable little cousin. Oh, but you're all adorable, too! But why don't you all prove it? Let's have a fashion contest!"

She brought forward a plastic crate full of play clothes and watched over the kids while they dressed up in the most hideous combinations of clothing imaginable. Seriously, one little girl put on colors more clashing than her stegosaurus.

"Nice hat," she said to the boy who'd put underwear on his head. The boy giggled.

"We have to dress you up too, Boss!" a little girl declared, and the other children quickly agreed.

"Yeah?" Nanako said. "Sure, go ahead!"

Some time later she was decked out in a yellow sundress, which would have been fine on its own, but they'd had her put on overalls over it and big bulky boots. To top it off, she had on a cowboy hat.

"Dojima-san?" someone called from behind.

"The name's Boss—" she began. "Oh." It was the daycare manager, an older woman with dark hair and an apron who proceeded to inform her that parents were beginning to arrive to collect their children. The manager showed Nanako how to check the children out by matching their parents' name against a list on a clipboard and then left her to it.

One by one the kids were taken away to go home for the day. Nanako had the kids keep on their dress-up clothes until their parent arrived just to see the responses. Some were heartily entertained, but some were noticeably upset by seeing their little boy in a dress, for example. It was kind of frustrating and she worried she might get in trouble with the manager if one of them complained. Well, the daycare seemed like it was hurting for help, so she probably didn't have to worry too much.

Finally, all the kids were gone. She pulled off the boots and cowboy hat with a sigh of relief.

Then paused.

Wait.

What about Souji?

...She'd been having so much fun with the kids that she hadn't even noticed that he hadn't been playing with them. She spied him easily, sitting on the ground with his back to the pole that held up a canopy over the picnic table. He was facing away from her. "Hey, Souji-kun!"

Souji didn't look up. As she approached, she saw that he was watching some sort of bug crawling on his finger. It flew off when she bent down in front of him.

He didn't look happy, not that he often did, but he seemed more unhappy than normal. His gray eyes were as stormy as his hair in the light breeze. He was really upset that she'd crashed his daycare, wasn't he?

"Souji-kun... Why didn't you play with your friends?"

He looked off to the side, at the ground. One of his hands picked at the grass.

"You didn't want to play with them?"

He continued to do his best impersonation of a rock.

"Do you want to play with me?" she tried. He looked up at her suddenly in surprise and confusion. "Yeah. Why don't you choose what I should wear next?"

She held her hand out to help him up, and it took him a few long moments to take it, but the fact that he did at all was a relief of its own.

When he tried to let go after he got up to his feet, she gently kept her grip on him, and they walked to the dress-up box together.

"All right, Souji-kun! What do you think I should wear?" He looked at what was in the box, but made no move to go through it, so she went ahead and started picking things out. She put on a bowler hat. "How about this?"

He stared at her. She stared right back. She wasn't going to give in.

He broke it by stepping towards her and reaching up. "Huh?" she asked. She handed him the bowler hat, and he put it back in the box. Then he tugged at the overalls the other kids had put her in. Not knowing what he wanted, she sat down on the ground. He pulled the overalls' strap down over her shoulders.

 _Souji-kun! You're way too young to be undressing girls!_ she thought, and then she began to laugh. He ignored her, and when he began to tug at the sundress, she pushed him away and removed it herself. He took the sundress from her, folded it, and put it back in the box.

Then he closed the lid to the box.

Apparently he didn't want to play dress up. Or maybe he preferred her in her normal Yasogami uniform. Nanako sat on the box and smoothed out her apron. She invited him to sit next to her, and he did, though he left several inches between them. She put her arm around him and pulled him close. "I'm sorry that I didn't play with you," she told him.

His silence was starting to bother her. Hermit child wasn't supposed to be mute, too! "Hey, Souji-kun... If I do something wrong, you've got to tell me. You're family, but I also want to be your friend. We've got to be friends because I'm gonna be here for a whole year."

He looked up at her, and an excruciatingly long moment later said, "I do want to be friends..."

She smiled at him, and it took another long moment, but he smiled shyly back. She had to keep herself from squeezing him too tightly in her happiness. "All right. Now... come along—I need to talk to the manager." _I need to get paid,_ she mentally added. That was the whole point of this job, after all!

She held Souji's hand and they walked together to the main building, where she took off the apron, handed it back to the manager, and received an envelope with her pay for the day. The manager noticed the boy, though. "Oh, Souji-kun's mother isn't here yet? She's as bad as Minami-san sometimes, I swear."

"Huh?" said Nanako. "Souji-kun is my cousin, so I was gonna take him home with me. You mean Aunt Seta picks him up?" She was relieved to hear it.

"Is your name on the emergency list? For liability reasons, we can't let any of the kids go home with just anyone."

"Probably not," Nanako admitted. She'd already handed the clipboard back, so she couldn't check. "It's okay. We'll just wait for Auntie to show up."

Nanako had been expecting to camp out here for the rest of the afternoon, but against all odds, Aunt Seta pulled up in the car just around ten minutes later. She was surprised to see Nanako and remarked how she was a nice young lady to help out at the daycare. _I'm doing it for money, Auntie,_ Nanako thought to herself. _Not because I love kids or plan to have any anytime soon!_

Nanako asked to have her name put on the emergency list so that she could take Souji home if needed. Her aunt seemed excited by that idea, to Nanako's silent rage. Aunt Seta hardly seemed to interact with her own son at all, and passing the buck like this would make the situation that much worse. Nanako was way too young to be taking on the role of surrogate mother.

To her further annoyance, Aunt Seta made her sit in the front, not in the back with Souji. But to her delight, when she glanced back at the boy, he'd put his seatbelt on all by himself—and Nanako had only shown him how that one time! She was very proud of him. It informed her, too, that even if he didn't seem like he was listening or paying attention, chances were that he actually was.

Aunt Seta picked up beef bowls at Aiya for dinner, and the three of them ate at the kitchen table together. Aunt Seta asked how Nanako was doing in school, so she talked about her friends and teachers. Nanako wasn't sure her aunt was really listening, but little Souji seemed to be watching her intently, at least.

"How do you like school, Souji-kun?" Nanako asked, trying to involve him in the conversation.

The boy twisted his chopsticks and looked down at the table.

"Answer the question, Souji!" Aunt Seta requested.

"I like school..." he said softly.

"Souji is the top of his class," Aunt Seta said, raising her chin with pride. "He always gets the highest marks in reading and math. He's the brightest boy there. Aren't you, Souji?"

The boy made a sound that sounded vaguely affirmative.

"Speak up," his mother requested. "Use big boy words. You're a big boy, Souji."

"Yes, Mama..."

"He's grown up so fast," Aunt Seta confided in Nanako. "He looks so much like his father, bless his soul..." The woman was positively glowing, and Nanako wasn't quite sure how to react. "Such a sharp boy... He'll become a lawyer or a doctor someday, that much is certain."

Nanako looked at Souji, and it was impossible for her to imagine him as anything but the sad little boy he was right now.

Aunt Seta informed Nanako of her plan to send Souji to a private middle school in another city instead of continuing in the nearby public school system. Nanako didn't blame her too much—the teachers at Yasogami were a bit to be desired. A private school would probably be better in that respect. And she could imagine that maybe Souji would do better in a new environment... But he still had a few years before middle school, anyway.

"Only the best for my Souji," the woman said. Nanako just smiled indulgently at her. It was awkward to talk about him when he was sitting right there.

Aunt Seta went on about the quality of education in public schools—no offense, Nanako-chan—and Nanako began to wonder if she harbored some personal resentment towards public school from personal experience. Nanako was pretty sure her father hadn't gone to private school, which would mean his sister, Aunt Seta, wouldn't have gone to one either...

As the night went on, Nanako wondered if she'd bond with her aunt. On one hand, she hoped the woman wasn't a social link, simply because she didn't want to spend time with her. On the other hand, if she did spend time with her, maybe she could gently nudge her aunt into the right direction, help her come to realize the myriad small injustices she was doing toward her own flesh and blood.

As the evening drew to a close, though, Nanako never heard the telltale sound nor imagined the card that signified a link.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the main reason we kept Saki alive was so that she could be a social link! I didn't have any ideas for how Nanako could bond with Naoki, nor did I really want to write Nanako befriending Ai Ebihara as the Moon link, so, yeah. 
> 
> But if Saki is the Moon, who will be the Hanged Man? Hmhmhm...
> 
> And Morooka is the Hierophant, since Dojima-san, is, well, in Tokyo, hehe. I remember seeing an unfinished Morooka link written somewhere on the kink meme. This version will focus on philosophy, I suppose! It was pretty fun looking up that myth he told.
> 
> Whether Aunt Seta will be a link or not is yet to be seen.
> 
> Next Chapter: Striking a Chord
> 
> Alternative title: Grand Theft Piano
> 
> (I couldn't think of a title, but Nanako is not _really_ stealing a piano... haha)


	9. Striking a Chord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako plays with her cousin, shows off her musical ability, finally hangs out with Yukiko, and discovers why Souji hates Wednesdays.

[4/24: Sunday]

After watching Loveline and Featherman with Souji, Nanako decided she was going to spend the entire day with him. She'd promised they'd be friends, after all. And after yesterday, there was no doubt that he needed the attention. She told him in no uncertain terms that they were going to play.

"B-but laundry..." he protested.

"Laundry, smaundry!" she declared. "Ehh, actually, we do need clean clothes, don't we? After laundry, then!"

When they were done with that, she gently led him away from the apparently mesmerizing sight of the clothes tumbling in the washer and took him upstairs to her room. He hesitated before her door. "I'm not supposed to..."

"Huh? It's my room," she said. "You can come in anytime, Souji-kun. Well, it's polite to ask. It is a girl's room, after all."

When he still hesitated, she pulled him in and set him down on the floor. She handed him the purple rabbit, Chan-chan, from her shelf and took down a couple of other stuffed animals. Sure, he was a boy and was 'supposed to' play with action figures, but she had the feeling he would love to cuddle a plushie. And Chan-chan was about the size of a pillow, perfect for the job.

He was holding the rabbit rather gingerly and with a puzzled look. "This is Chan-chan," she told him. "She's a queen and also my little sister. Her ears are her crown." Nanako tied the rabbit's ears together. "See, a crown. You know what Chan-chan loves the most?"

He blinked rapidly at her. She waited for him to realize that she wanted an answer. "C-carrots?" he ventured.

"Gummies, actually," she corrected, "but that's because I like gummies. What she really loooves... is hugs!" Nanako moved forward and swept the boy in a wide embrace, the big plush rabbit caught between them. Souji let out a short yelp of surprise.

After that, she introduced him to the rest of the menagerie and made up some interactions between the animals.

"Someone stole Chan-chan's gummy! Who was it!?" Nanako grabbed an orange fox plush and put the gummy in question under it. "Was it you, Foxie? You're always playing tricks!" She changed the pitch of her voice. "Oh no, of course not! I would never steal from you, my queen! I learned my lesson last time." She informed Souji as an aside that Foxie was always the thief.

She continued to enact a search for the gummy, and eventually the fox was caught red-handed as Nanako pretended to have the animal eat its stolen goods. She turned to Souji, who was still holding up Chan-chan. "Oh, queenie! How shall we punish the thief!?"

"U-umm..." he said. "J-jail?"

"Jail!" Nanako declared. "One week in jail! Foxie, let this be yet another lesson to you." She overturned one of her leftover moving boxes and put the animal under it.

She had the animals chat a little more before telling Souji it was time to put them up. She put all of them away except Chan-chan. "You know, I think she wants you to say goodbye to her, Souji-kun."

"Uh, umm... goodbye?" he said weakly.

Nanako lifted up the rabbit's arm to point at him. "That's not what she meant, Sou-chan! Remember what she loves the most?"

His face reddened and he looked down, mumbling. Nanako told him that she was waiting, but if he took too long, maybe Chan-chan would hug someone else. The boy finally stepped forward and hugged the bunny.

Nanako moved around to his back and put her arms around him. "You know what, Sou-chan? I love hugs, too."

* * *

[4/25: Monday]

Nanako waltzed into the band room and pulled up one of the empty music chairs, casually sat in it, and proceeded to observe the band club meeting. Unfortunately, her entrance had attracted the club captain's attention. He was a dorky-looking guy with glasses who looked more at home in a computer club. "Can I help you? Do you want to join band?"

"Nah, I just wanna watch. Please pretend I'm not here."

To Nanako's further misfortune, since this was the first day that the band club met, they weren't actually going to practice anything together. Instead, each person played a short piece for the captain to show they'd been practicing since last year.

When it was the trombone girl's turn, Nanako covered her ears and swore to herself.

Yeah, not joining this band, she thought. Besides, there wasn't a piano in the room!

She stuck with it until the end, anyway, since she had nothing else to do. When the meeting was dismissed and most of the students filtered out, she stayed behind to ask the club captain if the school had a piano.

"Maybe," he answered. "Matsunaga! Do we have a piano in storage?"

The girl at the back of the room struggling to put her trombone into its case looked up. "Uh, umm, I think we might, but it would be very dusty..."

"Can I see it, anyway?" Nanako asked.

"I'll leave that to you, Matsunaga," said the club captain.

"A-all right!" the girl squeaked.

Nanako tried her damnedest not to judge the girl, but it was easy to see that she was a late bloomer. Her face was rosy and round, like a young child's, and she was a head shorter than Nanako, who was not the tallest of the girls in the DEATH Squad. "I'm Nanako. What's your name?" she said to be polite.

"O-oh, I'm Ayane..." the girl said, her cheeks becoming redder, if it was possible. "It's nice to meet you. You play the piano? Umm, I'm not sure how long it's been since we've had a pianist... But I think we have a piano," the girl continued. "Back here."

Ayane led her into a dark and dusty room that almost gave her second thoughts on entering. The girl turned the light on, revealing shelves full of old and possibly broken instruments. In the back of the graveyard, hidden behind an old tuba, was what could be a piano. Nanako tugged the white cloth with distaste—well, the cloth had once been white, now it was gray with dust—and, well, there was a piano, but...

"U-umm, are you alright, Senpai?"

"You don't treat an expensive musical instrument like this," she muttered. There were dead bugs on the keys!

"Umm, Senpai, are you cry—"

"No!" 

Nanako stomped out of the room and searched the halls for slave labor. She found a pair of victims on the second floor.

"Uh, Daisuke?" the tall skinny pretty-boy with purplish hair said. "What did you do to that girl? She looks like she wants you to die in a fire."

"Huh?" The boy named Daisuke turned and flinched at Nanako's expression.

"I'm not mad at you, just the school," Nanako said. "Come on, I need some big strong boys to help me. You're big and strong, right?"

"Sure, he is!" The purplish-haired boy slapped Daisuke on the back. "But I'll help, too, if you need it."

Two boys might not be enough, she thought. She called Yosuke on her cell phone. "You! Are you still at school?"

"What the hell is with that ringtone!?" Yosuke shouted back, sounding frazzled.

"What, you don't like 2Pac? I'm disappointed in you. Seriously, are you still at school? I need you."

"I'm not," he said, "but, umm, you need me? What's this about?"

"Just come to school," she ordered. "I'll be at the music room!" She hung up before he could say anything more. "You," she said, looking at the two boys in front of her. "You're coming with me."

* * *

Some time later, Nanako and the three boys were struggling to get the heavy piano out of the storage room. The fact that it had casters didn't change the fact that it weighed what felt like half a ton. "You're buying us drinks after this, right Nanako-san?" Yosuke panted.

"I could totally go for a TaP right now," Daisuke agreed.

"C-come on," Nanako said, stopping for a second to wipe the sweat from her eyes and only managing to smear dust all over her face instead. "You're doing it so you can brag to your bros about how you helped out a poor, helpless, and very cute girl with your _manly_ strength."

"Umm," said Yosuke. "But I'd still like a drink."

"There's a water fountain over there." She pointed it out with a twist of her head.

"Denied, Hanamura!" said the purple-haired boy, whom she'd discovered was named Kou. He was on the basketball team.

The piano was halfway down the hall when Morooka caught them and demanded to know what the hell she was doing, apparently knowing implicitly that she was the leader of this operation. She retorted that obviously she planned to have a foursome with the boys on top of the piano. He just sort of spluttered at her and then shook his head and left.

"I never know what's going to come out of your mouth next, Nanako-san," Yosuke commented.

"Shut up and push!" she ordered.

Ayane stood up from her chair in the music room when Nanako kicked open the door. The underclassman was surprised to see them pushing the piano but obligingly volunteered to hold open the door for them. She then hovered around when they pushed it towards a corner of the room, quickly moving music stands and chairs out of the way.

"H-here, stop, that's perfect," Nanako said. The four of them took a moment to catch their breaths. They were all filthy from the exertion and the dust caking the piano. "Thank you very much. Sorry that your clothes got all dirty." _But some sacrifices have to be made,_ she added in her mind. Her own uniform jacket was wrecked, too.

"It's just our P.E. clothes anyway," Kou said cheerfully.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Nanako said. "It was why I picked you guys out of the crowd. I'm pretty sure that guy in glasses walking around up there would look down his nose at me if I suggested he get his hands dirty."

"What about me?" said Yosuke. "This is my favorite shirt!" It was an orange and white V-neck that now had several streaks of gray through it. These dust stains couldn't pass as part of its design.

"Sucks," she said. "Anyway, thank you again!" She smiled as dazzlingly as she could manage, and when the two sports-minded boys left, she let it drop into a broody scowl.

"Nanako-senpai," Ayane said meekly. "Are you going to join the band?"

 _No,_ she thought. "Maybe," she said. "Depends on if this thing works."

"You don't know if it works? Maybe you could have done that, umm, before we moved it?" Yosuke said somewhat reproachfully.

"I couldn't have tried to fix it in that dark storage room," Nanako said while she inspected the piano a little more closely. "They didn't even have the fall board over the keys..." she muttered to herself. She opened the lid, ready to cringe at what she might find, but fortunately there were no dead animals inside. Just ever more dust. Oh, and maybe some spiders...

With a sigh she turned to Ayane and Yosuke, thanked them, and told them they could leave. Ayane told her to let her know if she wanted to officially join the band, and then picked up her trombone case—which was almost as big as her, really—and left.

Yosuke, however, stayed behind. "You play the piano?"

"Not as well as my mom, of course, but yeah," she answered, preoccupied. "One moment." She left the room and entered the nearest janitorial office to 'borrow' some cleaning supplies. She returned to the shabby piano and began to clean it off, first sweeping off the dead bugs on the keys with a bristle brush and then dusting off the handprints on the lid and frame leftover from their rough handling of it. She dampened a rag and wiped down the keys, careful not to let water drip between them and drying them with a second rag, then cleaned out the filthy washcloth in the bucket and went over them again a little more thoroughly. Hmm, she'd have to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste to remove the yellowing...

"Umm... You want some help?" Yosuke was standing there watching.

Too focused on what she was doing, she didn't reply, until Yosuke called her name. "Hmm? Sorry. You're still here? I said you could go."

"I want to know if it works," Yosuke said. He shrugged. "I don't mind helping you clean it out."

She declined. Someone inexperienced could do more harm than good. Really, the inside shouldn't be touched by anyone but a professional piano cleaner, which Nanako herself was not, in all honesty...

Eventually the piano was in presentable condition, or as well as it was going to be for today. Nanako hadn't found a bench in the storage room, so she pulled up one of the music chairs. There hadn't been any sheet music, either, so she decided to play a simple piece she knew by heart: _Sakura._

It was a short piece, but her playing was ruined by a key sticking half-way through. She sighed heavily at it. There were so many different reasons a key could stick, and a screwdriver was not one of the things she'd stolen from the janitor's office.

"Huh, you really can play," Yosuke remarked. She glanced at him sharply, but he looked impressed. "Too bad this thing is a hunk of junk, huh?"

"Yeah. Too bad pianos are so expensive. I miss having one around."

"You played it a lot?"

Nanako nodded. "I'll have to manage with this until I go home, I guess." She pressed a few keys to test them. A couple more were stuck, too, and some others didn't have the right sound to them.

"You should join the band," Yosuke said suddenly, in the middle of her toying with one of the stuck keys. "You can only improve the sound." He chuckled dryly.

"I don't know. I prefer to play solo. But I don't know if they'll let me play this," – she patted the piano – "if I'm not officially in, so... we'll have to see." She pulled down the fall board to cover the keys and then took to her feet. "Let's go home and get cleaned up. We've been at school way too long for a Monday!"

"It's your fault I'm still here," Yosuke noted. He sighed. "Oh well."

They walked out together and talked about music. Yosuke said that he'd been given an acoustic guitar for his birthday some years ago, but he hadn't played it recently. She told him he should start it up again, and he seemed to warm to the idea until she stipulated that she didn't want to hear him practice.

* * *

[4/26: Tuesday]

Nanako's problem with being unable to hang out with Yukiko solved itself; while she was thinking about visiting the music room again and seeing if she could work on the piano, the demure girl came up to her desk and asked if she was busy after school.

"Huh? No, why? You wanna go in the TV?" Nanako asked. They probably should. It had been almost a week, and she didn't want all her newly built muscles to atrophy from lack of use, nor her team to get rusty.

"I was hoping we could go out," Yukiko said.

Go out...? Nanako swiftly glanced around the classroom. Chie was nowhere in sight. "Sure! What do you want to do?"

Yukiko led her to the shrine in the central shopping district. The princess solemnly walked to the offertory box, prayed, and dropped in a small donation. Nanako didn't follow suit; she wasn't a religious person—with her expansive worldview, she really couldn't be more than a deist, if even that—really, she would have no truck with gods even if they did exist.

They sat down together on the steps before the offertory box. "I heard a wild animal lives around here," Yukiko commented, looking around.

"Wild as in dangerous? If it comes out, I'll bop it good," Nanako replied. "Or make it join the DEATH Squad."

"Where did you come up with that name?" Yukiko asked. She began to giggle. Her whole body shook uncontrollably, but she was able to contain it. "DEATH Squad...!"

"Umm, Yukiko, death squads are an actual thing. You prooobably don't want to look into it." Or maybe she would. Hell's Castle... "But we're only genociding Shadows, so it's okay. We're good guys."

"We really are," Yukiko said. "You saved me!"

"You saved yourself, actually. Accepting your Shadow, that's awesome. If only Yosuke could've accepted his, then his Persona would be stronger and we would have two awesome healers. Unfortunately he didn't, so you, or maybe I, will have to pick up his slack."

Yukiko sighed suddenly. "You get along so well with him... I'm a little jealous."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Nanako stared at her. Jealousy... in regards to Yosuke? It did not compute. _I thought you had Chie, but you really want Yosuke?_ Nanako wondered if she had a love triangle or maybe even quadrangle forming on her hands and her ever-spinning mind further wondered if she could turn it into something raunchier.

"Both you and Chie get along so well with boys," Yukiko explained. "I'm afraid to talk to them. I don't think I'd have anything to say."

"You wanna talk... to boys?" Nanako made it sound like Yukiko was speaking a foreign language. "Do you have a particular one in mind or something?"

"No, but... I'd still like to be able to talk to one on my own. The only time they come to talk to me is to ask me out, and then Chie makes them leave."

"Chie is a problem," Nanako admitted, "but there's really nothing to it. Just talk to them like you'd talk to anyone. And when their eyes start wandering to your chest, you punch them, and then you go talk to a girl instead because girls are better anyway." _And then you can look at their chest if you want and it's okay because you're also a girl. Heh._

"I wish I had your confidence," Yukiko said demurely.

"You're looking for a friend, not a boyfriend, right?" Nanako chewed her lower lip while she thought. She didn't actually know many boys their age by name. Yosuke, Daisuke, and Kou, and she'd only met the latter two yesterday and didn't know them very well. "You could probably hang out with Yosuke? Since he's on the team and all, you sorta already know him. You even have his phone number. Just make sure to let him know that you aren't interested in him. He doesn't need another Saki on his hands."

"I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Yeah, I can't even think of what you two would have in common, anyway. 'Living in Inaba' and 'Same class at school' can only get you so far. Hey, it was just an idea! Maybe I'll come up with something better after I've thought about it more."

Nanako proceeded to immediately think about it more even though she'd planned to change the subject. _Maybe you can talk to my little cousin. Though it'd definitely be 'talk to,' not 'with' and he is ten years younger..._ How cute that would be! Yukiko was shy around boys, Souji was shy around everyone and everything...

"Nanako? You've a strange look on your face."

"Huh? Uh, yeah, sorry, was thinking about something. You could also join an after-school club, maybe. There are boys there. Say, do you play an instrument?"

"I always wanted to learn how to cook," Yukiko confided. "Is there a club for that? But with the inn, I don't have much time."

"If there isn't, make one!" Nanako told her. "It can't be that hard. Hell, maybe I'd join so I can cook more than ramen."

Yukiko smiled at her.

 _Priestess, huh?_ Nanako thought as that mysterious voice indicating a social link spoke in her head. The card seemed to depict a witch's hat with a mask and a crescent moon in the corner. _I can see that._

"I'll consider both of your ideas," Yukiko said. "But I should get home. I planned to study tonight. We have exams after Golden Week, you know."

"We do? What the hell did we learn...?"

Yukiko began to laugh. It started slow, as just a chuckle, and then built up into a laughing fit so strong that a stand-up comedian might kill to see it. "N-Nanako!" she gasped. "That's exactly how Chie reacted this morning!"

Nanako sighed and canceled her plans to make everyone go training this week because she obviously needed to do some studying. _The Midnight Channel better not air anytime soon,_ she thought.

* * *

[4/27: Wednesday]

Aunt Seta had caught Nanako studying last night and had promised her a monetary reward if she did well, so Nanako was going to spend the afternoon studying. Maybe tonight she'd reward herself for her diligence with some shitty TV in her room before bed.

Yukiko had suggested she use the library—that's where she and Chie sometimes studied together—but Nanako decided that home was quieter and had the added bonus of Souji. She set up her math notebook opposite the boy at the tea table while he busied himself with his own cram school work.

They'd been at it for some time when Souji interrupted their peaceful silence by muttering to himself, "Mom's not home yet..."

Nanako checked the time on her phone. It was still pretty early. She didn't expect her aunt to be home anytime soon and wondered why the boy did.

"She's supposed to make dinner today," he went on.

"She can cook?" Nanako asked, surprised. She'd never experienced anything but takeout so far in this house. Besides that, what made this day different?

"It's a Wednesday," Souji explained, but he didn't elaborate. Nanako was further puzzled by this because Wednesday was nothing special. It hadn't been special last week—Aunt Seta had definitely worked late that night and even more definitely hadn't cooked—and Golden Week was next week.

Souji looked tense for some reason and Nanako couldn't understand why. "Why does it matter that it's Wednesday?"

"Not every Wednesday," he said, "but sometimes... This is one..."

"Souji-kun, I don't understand at all," she told him outright.

He apparently didn't care to explain further.

"Well," she said, "if your mom is supposed to make dinner, I could make it instead. If ramen is okay, 'cause that's pretty much all I know. Or maybe a stir-fry."

His face brightened and he seemed to cheer up at the prospect of cooking. "Can I help...?"

Since the mental image of a six-year-old stir-frying couldn't work out in her brain, she decided to go with ramen. She put him on noodle-boiling duty while she cooked some beef and veggies in a skillet.

The soup was practically done when there was a knock on the door. Souji stiffened at the sound. Nanako frowned to herself. If it was her aunt, she'd have a key. "I'll get it," she told him. He nodded quickly, eagerly, even, which gave her the impression that he was relieved.

She paused at the door, though, even as the knock repeated. Nanako hadn't been on the TV news, nor had she been on the Midnight Channel—she trusted Yosuke to be diligent about checking both, and besides it hadn't rained in a while—so it probably wasn't the killer, but... "Who is it?" she called.

"It's, uhh, me," came the reply. "Who else would it be?"

Muffled by the door, she couldn't tell who it was by the voice alone. She opened the door with one eye closed just in case...

Standing there casually on the doorstop with his hands in his pockets was the red tie detective. "Adachi-san...?" she said. "Uh, hello."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you were living here," Adachi said. He scratched the back of his neck. "...Is your aunt in?"

"No. She's not."

His eyes widened. "O-oh... Huh."

A very awkward silence followed. Nanako's mind whirled. Adachi expected Aunt Seta to be home. Souji had been nervous earlier, and now it was quite obvious that he'd known Adachi was coming over. Aunt Seta was supposed to make dinner. Dinner... for Adachi!?

T-too much info, really...

Adachi checked his phone and then closed it with a snap. "Well, what do you know... she told me not to visit tonight. My mistake! Have a good evening!" He began to slink away into the encroaching evening darkness.

"Wait!" Nanako called. He paused in his retreat. "You're hungry, right?"

"Err..."

"I made dinner," she said. "I owe you, anyway. I never did get you those cabbages. Well, it's just ramen, but, yeah."

Adachi blinked. "Ramen, huh? Well... Sure, if you insist." The corner of his mouth turned up. "Better than anything I was gonna make."

She ushered him into the house and set him down at the kitchen table. She served out three bowls of the ramen soup and put one in front of him. He inhaled the scent, and to her delight—it had been a while since she'd cooked, after all—he seemed excited about eating it.

But someone was missing from the equation. After handing the detective a pair of chopsticks, she frowned and called out for Souji, but the boy didn't answer, and at a glance he wasn't anywhere in sight. Huh, where the heck did he go? She noticed the door to his room was closed and suspected he was closeted in there. "Souji-kun!" she said sourly. "Come on out!"

"Eh, it's okay," Adachi said from the kitchen table, waving the chopsticks at her. "Leave the kid alone."

"He needs to eat dinner, too!" Nanako protested, her hand on the doorknob.

"He's prooobably not hungry." Adachi poked at the soup in front of him.

 _Well, fine, I'm not going to let it stop_ me _from eating!_ she thought. She returned to the kitchen table to do just that.

There was silence while they ate, and then Adachi commented, "He doesn't like me."

"Maybe you should wear different clothes when you visit," Nanako suggested. "You might be reminding him of his dad."

Adachi looked down at his scruffy detective's suit. "Huh, I never thought about that. You know, it might even be just the tie. His dad gave it to me, after all. He had a thing against patterned ties, heh. It was solid colors or bust with him." He ran his fingers down the tie, leaving it more crooked than it already was.

Thankfully, the nostalgia concerning his old partner didn't seem to set him off in any way. Nanako wondered if she could ask about him... maybe get some insight into why—

"Ehh, well, thank you for the meal, Nanako-kun," Adachi said, interrupting her thoughts. He pushed the finished bowl away. "I should probably get going now. And let Souji-kun come out of hiding, heh."

 _No,_ Nanako thought. _I haven't yet grilled you for info on the case!_ "Won't you stay and chat?" she said. "I'm sure you have some interesting stories to tell!" He seemed reluctant, so she added, "Come on, it's not like you had any other plans for the night."

His expression flattened, but then he burst out laughing. "Yeah, you got me there..."

They moved to the living room, where she sat across from him at the tea table. Nanako shoved her open math notebook to the side to clear it.

"I don't miss that," he said with amusement.

"Yeah..." Nanako sighed. "I got exams the week after Golden Week. Like hell I'm gonna study during the holidays."

"Holidays? What holidays?" He chuckled darkly.

"Crime never takes a holiday," she said, shaking her head, understanding him implicitly through her experiences with her father.

Adachi sighed heavily. "I could use a vacation, too."

"They're running you ragged, huh?" she said. "Must be rough."

"Tell me about it. No witnesses to the murders because the rain and the fog, and the ME's got no COD for either of them. It's a mess. And the two prime suspects have solid alibis."

Nanako perked up despite her effort to control her curiosity. "Suspects?"

"Taro Namatame and his ex-wife. I've got my eye on that guy—he lives around here—but an alibi's an alibi, and his is preeetty strong. He was at the Shiroku pub that night and the old lady vouches for him, and so do a couple of other patrons. The ex-wife, now, she was on a tour, and nowhere near Inaba. We looked into other family, too, but it was drier than a well in a desert."

She didn't envy the detective his position. When the culprit was killing through supernatural means, the normal police weren't going to find the solution. And every day without progress made it less and less likely that they'd find said culprit.

Dammit, she hadn't made any real progress, either, even knowing the true cause of death.

"Good luck, man," she finally said.

He let out his breath in a snort. "Yeah, thanks. Well, I'm not alone. My superiors are scrambling, too, you should see them! Always trying to see who can shout the loudest."

A silence elapsed as Adachi seemed out of things to say about the case, and Nanako had basically run out of questions. So she asked instead, "By the way, what did you do with all that paperwork on my dumb friend? The one who got arrested at Junes."

"Oh, that...? Heh, this is what I did." Adachi took out a lighter from his pocket and set it down on the center of the tea table.

"You _burned_ it?"

"Well, paper shredder, actually, but same thing, right?" He shrugged nonchalantly. "They had him down for threatening an officer and resisting arrest. That's pretty heavy stuff for a sixteen year old to have on his record."

"Yeah..." she said slowly. "Thanks again."

Adachi waved it off. "I bet you made sure that kid learned his lesson. Is he under your thrall now...?" His eyes narrowed and he seemed very interested in the answer.

"Don't worry. I treat him well." When his eyes narrowed further, she added, "I just made him buy me a soda, really."

"Only a soda?" 

"And I drank his when he wasn't looking," she admitted.

He chuckled, and Nanako noted how different his chuckle was from his laughter. The chuckle was a low rumble that didn't sound like he was all that amused, but his laughter earlier had felt true and was catching.

She blinked as the card formed in her mind's eye. It had a red and white background and held a silhouette of a balance shaped like a sword. There was something strange about it, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

 _Justice,_ the voice told her. Well, it made sense that a cop would represent Justice, right?

Nanako thought fast on what she could do during the time stop and settled with nicking his lighter. He'd left it right there, anyway, so she simply couldn't resist.

As if realizing his work was done after that link was established, Adachi said that it was probably time for him to leave. "Let you get back to studying, and I'm sure Souji-kun is hungry..."

She saw him out and ensured that he locked the door behind him—he did—and then knocked on Souji's door and informed him that Adachi was gone. "I'll heat up some of the ramen for you, okay?"

A long moment later, the boy opened the door, but he stayed by it, looking sheepish. She told him to sit at the table and put the bowl before him when it was ready. She didn't ask about his problem with Adachi, and he didn't volunteer the information.

Nanako was doing the dishes when Aunt Seta arrived, so there was essentially no evidence that the detective had been at the house. Except for, well, the lighter, but that was already safely stashed in her room. Nanako wasn't sure why she wanted to keep it a secret that Adachi had been over, except that it would be awkward to explain. 'You were supposed to cook dinner for him, what is up with that, anyway?' Her aunt was someone she still hadn't quite got a read on.

The rest of the night was rather quiet. Souji said absolutely nothing, but that was to be expected, and Aunt Seta seemed to be in a sour mood. She kept checking her phone and scowling at it. Nanako supposed she might be upset that she'd had to cancel the dinner date.

When Nanako retired to her room, she inspected the lighter more closely. It was an expensive one of the flip-top variety made of stainless steel. A stylized dragon was engraved on it. She'd have to return it. There wasn't any lighter fluid in it, and Adachi hadn't smelled like cigarettes. Maybe he didn't smoke? Then why did he carry around a lighter...?

She ran her fingers all over it and discovered an etching on the bottom. She read the name...

_Sachio Seta_

...and felt ill.

She was a terrible person to steal her dead uncle's lighter like that, wasn't she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right. In the Nanako-verse, Tohru Adachi is Justice instead of Jester. Losing his partner on the force might have changed his outlook on life. Might have.
> 
> Souji's parents don't have canon names, so I had to come up with them myself: Sachio Seta was his dad, and Ryoko Seta is his mom.
> 
> In the epilogue to Persona 4 Golden, little 7-year-old Nanako is taking piano lessons, so that's why we decided that she can play the piano. And with Chisato Dojima alive, it's not hard to believe she would've been taught to play it. [This is the best version of Sakura](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWHF7wml3l4) I could find online.
> 
> We toyed with the idea of having the shrine fox join them in the TV World just like it does in the game, but, eh, I don't think it adds to the story at all, so we probably won't be seeing it. I don't see Nanako taking on ema requests, do you? And we're not going to make a cooking club. That's way too domestic, hehe.
> 
> Someone requested a list of social links and their arcana, so here you go!
> 
> Established  
> Chariot – Chie  
> Hermit – Souji  
> Hierophant – Morooka  
> Justice – Adachi  
> Magician – Yosuke  
> Moon – Saki  
> Priestess – Yukiko
> 
> Not established (yet)  
> Aeon  
> Death  
> Devil  
> Emperor  
> Empress  
> Fortune  
> Hanged Man  
> Lovers  
> Star  
> Strength  
> Sun  
> Temperance  
> Tower
> 
> The Investigation Team's arcana are going to be the same as in the canon. Their links will be different in content instead.
> 
> And I'll be honest and admit that I don't have any ideas or plans for Devil or Tower at the moment.
> 
> Next Chapter: Golden Three Days
> 
> Why is it called 'Golden Week' when it's only a few days?


	10. Golden Three Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Margaret makes a request, the DEATH Squad bond over studying for their exams, and Nanako spends the long holiday with a certain family member.

[4/29: Friday]

By Friday, Nanako was sick of studying. Since it was raining, she made the squad go in the TV for training, although Teddie hadn't sensed anything interesting. The Shadows were apparently more active when it rained, possibly in anticipation of the fog lifting in the TV World, but there wasn't a large one like the Contrarian King around to deal with.

Nanako visited the Velvet Room as soon as she landed on the backlot, and though she planned to be conservative with her money, Igor informed her that his assistant had a task for her.

"Yeah?" Nanako looked at Margaret. "Whatcha want, Margie?"

"First, _do not_ call me that." Margaret looked like a viper ready to strike, or a thunderhead about to spout electricity. Nanako cowered despite herself. There was something about that woman...! "Your soul is of interest to me. I would like to see you continue to develop your other selves, and so I will occasionally make requests of you. Show me what you are capable of."

 _My_ soul _interests you?_ Did she want to eat it or something? Though, more importantly, "Wait, souls are real?"

"'Course they are," said Marie from the corner, looking at Nanako like she was stupid or something.

Nanako ignored her. "Is Igor interested in my soul, too?" She turned starry eyes on the long-nosed man, but all Igor did was continue to smile at her.

"First, I would like to see... hmm..." Margaret stopped to think. "A Vetala with... Silence Boost. As my first task, it should not be a difficult undertaking."

"Uhh, right," said Nanako, who had no idea what a Vetala was, nor had she ever seen a Persona with Silence Boost. "Can I get a hint?"

Margaret sighed as if it killed her to help. "One of the requisite Personas is of the Fool arcana. It is currently in the Compendium, but at an insufficient level."

Nanako was reminded of something that bothered her. "Hey, I was wondering why my DEATH Squad social link is the Fool arcana. Is it some sort of cosmic joke at our expense or something? Because I could be offended."

"The Fool is the one whose story is being told," Igor said. "It represents the start of a journey."

"And also shows that there is room for growth," Margaret added. "In fact, your own Arcana is that of the Fool."

The woman was looking down on her, Nanako could tell. Hmph, Fool or not, she'd show that cougar! "Well, then, show me what Fools I have in the Compendium and we'll go from there."

* * *

The Shadows were noticeably larger due to the rain, but they weren't anything the squad couldn't handle. Nanako focused on training the Persona Obariyon, which was an orange, goblin-like demon with a purple bowl-cut that reminded her of her cousin. It enjoyed jumping on enemies' backs and clawing at them. It was rather amusing to watch it wrestle on top of the paper mache fish-dolphins in Yukiko's Castle.

Yosuke asked her why she kept using that Persona over and over, and she just told everyone that she had her reasons.

After it clawed up the moss-baby Shadow summoned by a king-shaped Shadow that gave them flashbacks to the Contrarian King, the Obariyon finally learned Silence Boost, and Nanako called it a day.

* * *

"Ah," Margaret said appreciatively after Nanako returned to the Velvet Room and fused the requested Persona. It turned out to be a muscular humanoid with blue skin and a tusked elephant's head, including a long trunk. "A Vetala with Silence Boost. That wasn't so difficult, was it? Does it remind you of someone...?"

To her credit, Margaret didn't look at Igor, although Marie certainly did. The long-nosed man himself didn't comment.

Nanako didn't understand the significance of the Silence Boost. It wasn't a useful skill, in her opinion. She preferred killing Shadows to debilitating them. Margaret was now giving Marie a sharp look, however... Maybe the Silence Boost was related to her?

"Good job, anyway..."

The tinkle of glass sounded in Nanako's mind, which she hadn't expected because she'd always thought that the Velvet Room was attached in some way to her mind, considering she'd been called here in her sleep before. She listened for an echo but there wasn't one.

She used the time stop to try and pour herself some brandy, but before she could even touch the decanter something punched her in the face, and the force of the blow bowled her backward and out of the Velvet Room.

She tumbled onto the TV backlot, cursing with enough ferocity to blacken ears.

"Whoa, Nanako, are you okay?" Chie gasped.

Yosuke unsheathed his knives and looked around. "What did that?"

Nanako laughed without humor as she stood up. "My own hubris. Don't worry."

Apparently the Velvet Room residents didn't experience the time stop. She'd been kicked out so fast that she hadn't even heard what arcana Margaret belonged to.

The Bitch Arcana, probably.

"Yeah, bitch," she repeated under her breath. She rubbed her jaw and hoped the bruise wouldn't grow noticeably large.

* * *

[4/30: Saturday]

According to Yosuke, the Midnight Channel had turned on last night, but it hadn't shown anything. Just a blank screen.

"We're not getting anywhere, are we?" he commented, walking with her on the way to school. "I mean, defeating the Shadows is cool and all, but we're still no closer to finding the culprit."

"I know!" Nanako grumbled. "We need more clues. Who hated Mayumi Yamano? Maybe someone at the local news station, upset that she was forced to resign? Dunno, the scandal totally upped the station's ratings. And why the hell did they target Yukiko? I know Yamano was staying at the Amagi Inn, but that doesn't feel like a connection at all."

"Yeah, I don't get it either. I hate to say it, but maybe we have to wait for the culprit to strike again..."

"Unless they're done. Then it'll just be an unsolved mystery and Teddie's stupid world will just have to suffer."

He looked at her with concern. "You sound like you're about to give up!"

"None of this makes any damned sense! _There's a world behind the television!_ " She took a few deep breaths. "Sorry, Yosuke-kun, I just had to let that out. I'm a detective's daughter. I'll figure out this damned mystery if it's the last thing I do!"

For some reason, Nanako felt a chill upon saying that, and the Velvet Room key felt warm in her pocket.

"I-I'm with you, too!" Yosuke said. "I can't let the culprit get away with this."

"Yeah! We'll do it, or I'm not the Boss!" Nanako put on her glittery TV World glasses for added effect and strode into school.

* * *

Despite her posturing, Nanako was still feeling melancholy by the time school let out. It had been two weeks now since Yukiko's kidnapping. It hadn't rained much recently, that much was true, so perhaps the killer was just biding his or her time...

She wasn't feeling up to working at the daycare. She wanted to be bright and cheerful for Souji instead of mirroring his own state of mind.

Instead, then, she wandered around the central shopping district since she never did get around to seeing everything it had to offer. There was a bookstore, and Nanako entered to ask when the next Loveline manga was due out. She paused before the Velvet Room door, but her jaw was sore from yesterday, so she just gave it the middle finger while she walked by it. She also avoided Daidara's and passed a tofu shop.

Ah, so that's where Aiya was! If their ramen was so good, their beef bowl had to be, too. In fact, Nanako found Chie inside, chowing down, so she joined her. "You should come on a rainy day, Nanako!" the girl said through a mouthful of beef. "For the Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. I've won it twice!"

"Aiyah!" exclaimed the restaurant's owner. "She is my best customer!"

"Hehehe." Chie scratched her head in awkward pride.

Nanako ordered a bowl, and while waiting for it to come out, Chie told her about the different garnishes one could ask for in the Aiya beef bowl. Garlic, hot sauce, ginger, sesame, Vietnamese-style, Korean-style...

"Original style is the best, though!" Chie said, pointing with her chopsticks at the bowl the owner had just placed in front of Nanako. It was steaming and smelled so much better than the ramen she'd made on Wednesday. "Now I want another!"

"You still have to finish yours," Nanako pointed out.

"I could eat three bowls!" Chie claimed. "Well, maybe not, haha, but I'd sure give it a try!"

Chie's enthusiasm for meat was catching. Nanako enjoyed the myriad subtle flavors in the beef bowl as the girl pointed them out. At the same time, there was just too much meat! Nanako wasn't sure she could finish it.

"It's good, right?" Chie was grinning at her.

"Damn right!" Nanako declared.

Time stopped. _What, really?_ Nanako thought. She rolled her eyes and quickly dumped most of the rest of her beef into Chie's bowl. _Go, go, Chariot rank up!_

"Look, I finished it!" Nanako said when time resumed.

Chie was so happy for her that she didn't realize her own beef had magically multiplied. "I gotta finish mine now!" Nanako watched her shovel in the rest and shook her head wryly.

* * *

That evening, Nanako watched the news with Aunt Seta. Nothing of interest was showing—just a segment on the hottest vacation destinations for Golden Week—but it reminded her to ask her aunt what the plans were for the upcoming holiday.

Her aunt's red lips turned downward. "Ah, I have a business trip then. I'll have to go to Okinawa for the week."

 _Thanks for telling me ahead of time, dear aunt!_ "What about Souji-kun?" Nanako protested. "I think we should have a family vacation sometime. I haven't had much opportunity to get to know you, Aunt Seta!"

"He's a big boy," Aunt Seta said. "And we have all year, Nanako-chan. There will be plenty of time." She smiled at Nanako, and Nanako knew there wouldn't be any time at all. Watching the news together once or twice a week hardly counted as bonding time.

No wonder the woman wasn't a social link.

* * *

[5/02: Monday]

Yukiko, diligent student that she was, suggested after school that they form a study group—not because she needed it, but because she was going to be studying with Chie anyway. "What do you think, Yosuke?" Nanako asked. "I bet you haven't studied."

"If only the test was Shadow Slaying 101," Yosuke muttered. "Teddie could write the test for us."

"Nah, if he did, he would put evil questions," said Nanako, "like, I dunno, something where the answer is a bear joke. 'What bug-shaped Shadow have we been defeating at the castle?' 'The Bear-ning Beetle.'"

"I don't think Teddie has ever used that one," Chie observed. "Surprising, huh?"

"Maybe I should copyright it!" Nanako shot her a grin.

"The library is going to be full because of the rain," Yukiko noted. "We probably wouldn't be able to find four seats together."

"Why not Junes?" Chie suggested. "They have plenty of tables, and then we can snack out on steak!"

"I'm not paying," Yosuke said. His arms were determinedly crossed. "I'm not. Don't try and make me."

Chie made a comment about broken DVDs, which Nanako followed up with a comment on broken balls, and then Yosuke said that maybe he simply wouldn't study with them after all.

* * *

Fortunately the rain let up by the time they reached Junes, though they had to wipe the table dry before they could put their schoolwork on it. They spent the afternoon studying, but the only one who stayed focused the whole time was Yukiko. Whenever Nanako got bored she began to kick Yosuke under the table until he'd scooted himself rather far away from the group to avoid her. It was pretty funny when Chie asked what the heck he was doing, although Nanako was forced to apologize when he pointed her out as the culprit.

"Man, I hate school," Nanako muttered. "When are we ever gonna need to know how someone translated 'I love you' into Japanese? Maybe if it was more practical information..."

"What, like how to boss people around?" Yosuke's tone was sour; he was probably still nursing his sore shins.

Nanako laughed. "I could teach that class, honey!"

"Maybe a money sense class would be nice, huh?" Yosuke teased.

Nanako scowled at him for being right, though she'd been pretty good with her money recently. She'd received her weekly allowance last night, anyway! Of course, she'd probably spend it all the next time she visited Daidara's or the Velvet Room.

"'The moon is beautiful, isn't it?'" said Yukiko.

Nanako looked at her. "The moon's not even out!"

"Umm, Nanako, that's what we're studying," said Chie. "She's trying to get us back on topic. That's one of the translations for 'I love you.'"

Yosuke snickered. Man, his snicker was annoying. Nanako kicked him in the shin again for good measure and he stopped with a yelp. He glared at her, and she smiled serenely at him.

"So, umm, what was the translation that Shimei Futabatei used instead?" Yukiko asked.

No one answered, and thunder rolled in the distance.

"It was, 'I could die,'" Yukiko said helpfully, her tone a tad desperate.

"I agree," Nanako said, closing her notebook with finality.

* * *

[5/03: Tuesday]

Golden Week began today. It really wasn't a whole week off, only... half a week, but Nanako supposed 'Golden Half-week' didn't have the same appeal. Still, she'd spent both Sunday and Monday studying like a good girl— _retch!_ —and it was time to relax!

It was Constitution Day, and Yosuke called to hang out. Nanako declined because she wanted to spend the holiday with Souji. It might be fun to force Yosuke to play with Souji, but not now.

She brought her stuffed animals to the living room and played with him. It took Souji a while to get into it—he seemed to be worried about making the animals do or say something wrong, but Nanako continued to involve him until he overcame his shyness, and then he was genuinely having fun. His face was brighter than she'd seen it in her entire time here, and his soft and breathy laugh—her goal—was so adorable.

Souji started to initiate play on his own, too. He had Kitty ask where Foxie was and suggested the queen let her out of jail just for today because she was missing all the fun.

"Oh, I don't know," Nanako said in her Chan-chan voice. "Stealing gummies is a serious crime! Buuut I do miss her, so okay. (Souji-kun, why don't you go get her for me?)"

Nanako had the animals host a little reunion with Foxie, and then made her go along with the others on an adventure.

That evening, since Aunt Seta was out of town, Nanako ordered pizza from a nearby pizzeria. She hadn't had pizza in forever, and with how excited Souji seemed to be, he probably hadn't either. It was a four-way pizza with avocado shrimp, barbecue chicken, pepperoni, and Italian-style cheese. He ate the whole cheese portion all on his own, and Nanako claimed the shrimp. They had enough leftovers for the next night.

Before putting Souji to bed, Nanako decided to read to him—using her Loveline manga! Souji followed along attentively, and when she closed the second volume and told him it was time to sleep, he sat up in his bed, clutched at his sheets, and begged her to read him the next one. She smiled at him and promised to continue tomorrow.

* * *

[5/04: Wednesday]

Since it was Nature Day and all, Nanako decided she should go out and enjoy nature at its finest, so she took Souji out to the Samegawa River. Since he seemed to have an interest in bugs, she'd bought him a bug-catching kit.

She twirled around with the bug-catching net and listened to the satisfying _whoosh_ it made as it cut through the air. It was a perfect day for it, really. The sky was cerulean, and the bugs were lively and active from the recent rain.

But something was out of place.

She looked at her little cousin. He was wearing a white snap-button shirt with a collar, and over that was a gray vest. At least he was wearing shorts—they looked to be from his school uniform—but he had pristine white socks and shoes that looked new.

It was quite a problem. This was what he'd worn when she told him to put on play clothes. After a search through his room (with the horrified boy watching her hunt), it had turned out that he pretty much didn't have anything she would consider play clothes.

"Souji-kun, the vest needs to go."

He thumbed the vest's hem and looked up at her in obvious confusion.

Moments later she was pulling it off of him, the justification being that it was too hot to wear outside. "It'll get crumpled too. Don't worry, I'll fold it up and we'll leave it right here, okay?" she added when he stared at it in her hands as if it needed far more reverence than she was giving it. She put it on the picnic table.

That would do for now...

Nanako began to look for bugs nearby. "Here, here! It's a ladybug, Sou-chan!"

Such a simple bug didn't even need a net to catch. Nanako had Souji bring her the glass box and simply picked up the leaf the bug was resting on and put it inside. Souji held up the box to his face and watched the ladybug crawl around in its new home.

"How many spots does it have?" Nanako asked.

"Seven," he reported. His eyes were small; he seemed to be enthralled by the creature.

Nanako saw something jump in the grass and began to stalk it. Yep, it jumped again—a grasshopper. She slowly closed the distance, but it jumped away again. She brought down the net, but again it evaded her. Finally, after the third try, she caught it. It tried jumping but the net kept it contained. She lifted the net and grabbed it before it could jump again, then brought it back to Souji and put it in the box. It immediately tried to jump out and crashed against the glass. It fell upside down, but Souji gently turned the box until it was back on its feet.

Nanako asked him to follow her to the river, where she took off her shoes and put her feet in the water. The banks were rocky, but the stones were mostly smooth, so it wasn't too uncomfortable to walk along the river barefoot.

Souji was on the grass and made no attempt to come closer to the water.

She gave him a no-nonsense look. "Off with the shoes, Souji-kun! It'll be fun, I promise!"

He looked down at his feet, and before he could react, she tackled him to the grass with a laugh. "You're such a silly boy, come on!"

He tried to wriggle away, but Nanako got ahold of one of his feet and pulled the shoe off. After that, he gave up, and she pulled the other shoe and then both socks off, too. She thought of tickling his feet, but decided against it because she'd always hated that when she was younger.

"Come on, let's go to the river!" she said. "I promise I won't push you in, and if I do, then you can splash me all you want. Umm, you know how to swim, right? Just checking."

"Y-yeah, b-but..." he said, voice quavering.

"Whoa, hey, what's wrong? You've got cute feet—you shouldn't hide them!" she said, thinking it was the stealing of his shoes and socks that had upset him.

But it wasn't that. "N-not s'posed to d-dirty my sh-shirt..." he whimpered, picking at his shirt where it had become stained from their tumble in the grass.

"Oh, what? Here." She tugged at his shirt, unsnapping the buttons and ultimately taking the whole thing off. "You didn't need a shirt, anyway."

"It's s-still d-dirty," he said, sniffling and rubbing around his eyes.

"Souji! Look!" She pulled up a clump of dirt and grass from the ground and rubbed it all over her blouse. "Ah! Now I'm dirty, too! We'll do some laundry when we go home, okay?"

"'s not S-Sunday," he mumbled.

"Your mom's not even going to know. She's still out of town." Who knew when Aunt Seta would be back, anyway? She hadn't left Nanako any sort of estimate about it. "Really, it'll be okay," she said soothingly. "Trust me. I'm the boss."

He sniffled again, and she had him blow his nose on his shirt, and then made a pile on the grass with it along with his shoes and socks. She helped him up and walked him toward the water's edge. Looking at him and his reflection in the water, she noticed how pale the boy was. Did he ever get out of the house? She'd have to take him to the beach this summer. Well, after coating him with a thick layer of sunscreen.

"Maybe sometime we can go swimming, huh?" she suggested.

He was looking at his feet through the water's surface. He wiggled the toes of one foot. "Y-yeah... I'd like that..." he admitted slowly without looking up. She ran her fingers through his hair in happiness.

"Look, Souji-kun! A butterfly!" She spotted it across the river, flying around in the haphazard way that butterflies tended to. It was a bright yellow color—the common brimstone butterfly—and soon it was fluttering around them.

It flew around Souji's head, the boy trying to follow its movement, until it landed on his nose. "Ah, ah... it t-tickles!" he said, his eyes crossing to look at it.

It flattened its wings for a moment, and then it was off again. They watched it seek flowers among the sea of grass above the riverbank until it flew out of sight.

They moved down the river to the makeshift pier—it was just a few large flat stones set into the river—and sat with their feet hanging over the edge. The water was so clear that they could watch fish swimming in it. She vowed to bring some worms or fish food next time (she couldn't very well feed them the bugs she'd caught for Souji!). For now, though...

She pulled Souji into her lap and cuddled him close to her chest. Seeing his face turn so rosy, ah! That was all she needed for now.

* * *

[5/05: Thursday]

Children's day!

"We have the house to ourselves," Nanako told Souji. "Let's go wild!" 

She proceeded to take him to her room and dress him up in some of her own clothes. He came out of it decked out in a pair of her slacks—he refused to wear a skirt, despite her pleading—which were way too large for him and kept falling down until she tied her yellow school scarf around it as a makeshift belt, and her Yasogami High winter jacket. She tied the long arms of a pink sweater around his neck and told him it was a cape. Inspired by that one boy at the daycare, she put one of her bras on his head as a finishing touch.

It was too bad she'd left her old Detective Loveline costume back in Tokyo. He'd be _adorable_ in it.

"Your name is... Lieutenant Briefs!" she announced, since the pants had fallen down again. He blushed and tried to hold them up.

She turned to her closet and contemplated what she should wear. She considered raiding her aunt's closet, but her clothes were probably too expensive to mess with. She settled with wearing a jacket on backwards and wearing a shorter skirt over the skirt she already had on so that it looked like it was layered, if one ignored the fact that they were completely clashing colors: bright pink with white polka dots over a vibrant fire engine red. "And I am Sailor Boss!" she declared, twirling so that her dual skirts flared out. "Defender of Love and Happiness!"

She then struck a pose, and then helped him come up with his own pose to complement hers. She found the Loveline umbrella in his room and brought it out to him. His eyes glittered at the sight of it. She gave it to him and said it was his Wand of Justice.

"Now... Lieutenant Briefs! What is the cookie situation?" she asked in a businesslike fashion.

"We don't have any cookies..." he answered with a cute little frown.

"I know, and that's a crime. It must be corrected. And sooo... We're gonna bake some! How about that?" She strode into the kitchen and pulled out a package of cookie dough from the refrigerator that she'd bought over the weekend for this express purpose.

"Y-yeah!" he declared. "Please, please!"

She told him to get his step stool. While he did that, she pulled down a cutting board and rolling pin hidden in the cabinets and set them on the counter. Then she ran back up to her room and grabbed one of her Junes bags and brought it down.

Souji was waiting for her at the counter, standing on his stool and moving the rolling pin back and forth. He stopped suddenly when he was caught and pretended that he hadn't been touching it. Nanako laughed at him and patted his head, then put the bag on the table. He looked at it curiously, but she didn't open it.

She put some flour on the cutting board, as per the instructions on the cookie dough package, and then showed him how to use the rolling pin to flatten a portion of the dough. She let him try, but he didn't quite have the strength to flatten the dough, so she stood behind him and 'helped' him roll it. They had some trouble with the dough sticking to the rolling pin until she covered it with flour. She showed her floury hands to Souji and told him she was turning into a ghost, and he giggled.

When the dough was flat enough, she asked him what kind of shapes he wanted to make. While he mulled an answer over, she pulled out the cookie cutters from the Junes bag and waved the package in front of him. "How about... dinosaurs?"

 _Junes really does have everything,_ she mused while she helped him punch out the different dinosaurs in the dough. As soon as she'd seen the dinosaur cookie cutters there on Sunday, she just had to buy them even though she'd never baked cookies before in her life. There was even a pterodactyl in the set. It was like it was made just for Souji.

They only had one baking pan, and it couldn't fit all of the cookies, so they had to bake in shifts. Souji was so excited when the first set was done that she literally had to pull him away from the oven so that he wouldn't get burned when she took them out. "Keep your pants on! Really, they're falling down again."

Chastised, he stepped back, and while he was distracted by pulling his pants back up, she opened the oven and took the cookies out. The blast of heat that came out was enough to keep Souji away from it. "That's right! It's hot!" she told him. "We'll have to wait for them to cool before we can have them."

Though in all honesty, Nanako was impatient to try them, too. They were only sugar cookies. Since it was her first time baking and all, something simple seemed best. They smelled amazing, at any rate...!

And they were pretty amazing when they were finally able to have some. She gave him a pterodactyl and the long-necked one, and she ate a tyrannosaurus and a triceratops. Next time maybe she'd get sprinkles or frosting, she thought. Yes... there'd be a next time.

Souji wasn't a very talkative kid, but she coaxed him into discussing dinosaurs, and boy did he have a lot to say about them! He informed her that the long-necked one was an apatosaurus and then went on and on about which ones ate each other. If only her exams were on dinosaur eating habits—then she'd be totally prepared.

As the day drew on, they played several games together and watched a little bit of TV—though not too much TV; she'd noticed before that the boy seemed to get too absorbed into it. By nightfall, she declared that since it was the last day of Golden Week, she would spend the whole night with him. "That's right—sleepover in your room!"

"H-huh?"

She nodded decisively, and then proceeded to take her blankets from her futon and drop them on the floor in his room. She added several more sets of blankets from a closet and then made a sort of nest on his floor. "Come here, Lieutenant Briefs, come sit by me! Ah, just take the pants off," she added when they'd fallen down again. What a fitting name that had been. He didn't really need to bother putting on pajamas. Fortunately he'd removed the bra from his head several hours before because one of the straps had kept getting in his way. It was now in the living room... somewhere, she'd have to find it before Aunt Seta came home and wondered what she'd been up to in her absence, haha...

The boy sat next to her on the makeshift mattress, and she pulled him firmly into her lap and then read the next volume of the Loveline manga to him.

She was glad that she had almost the entire series; she could keep this up for many more nights. Maybe after she finished them all she'd move on to Featherman, but she didn't own any of those volumes, and collecting manga was expensive. Maybe Yosuke owned some that she could... borrow. Otherwise, maybe she'd look up a reading list for elementary age children and pick something that sounded fun and start reading him that. She'd make it fun for him, too, making up different voices for the characters and everything. This was why she couldn't join drama club—she'd want to play every role herself.

"'I'm sure you'll become my very best friend!' Aww, look, she's picked up the puppy in the last panel. This was a good ending! Better than last night's, huh? What an awful cliffhanger that one was, hehe. Oh, and guess what I have for you, Souji-kun?"

Souji, still looking at the last page of the manga, was slow to turn his head and blink up at her.

"Ta-da!" Nanako picked up the plushie she'd hidden from his sight under her pillow and set it in front of him. "Well, it's Foxie, who's not a puppy, but I think that if she had a best friend, maybe she wouldn't resort to a life of crime. How about it, Souji-kun?"

He couldn't hide his surprised little smile as he reached out to touch the fox.

"Now," Nanako said, "I don't know if she loves hugs as much as Chan-chan, but it's worth a try, hmm?"

The smile became a full-on grin. He clutched the animal to his chest, and then Nanako hugged him, too, since he was still in her lap and all.

"All right, I suppose we should get to sleep," she said with a sigh. "Hey, why don't you sleep on the floor with me, hmm? It'll be like a camp-out. Just me and you and Foxie!"

Without waiting for his response, she pulled the blankets and pillow from his futon and placed them next to her little nest. He seemed embarrassed, but he didn't protest when she gently pushed him into lying down in the spot she'd made for him. After she put a blanket over him, she went to turn off the light. His eyes reflected the glow of the nightlight in the corner of the room as he watched her prepare her own spot in the dark.

When she was situated, she told him goodnight, and then tried to lean over and kiss him on the forehead. She missed and got his hair instead, making them both giggle. "Sleep well, okay?" she told him. "Dream of flying with the pterodactyls."

"Uh, umm," he mumbled. "Y-yeah... Goodnight... b...big... sis..."

While she was still registering his words, she felt him cuddle up to her back. She carefully turned around and enfolded him in her arms, trying to dismiss the tears forming in her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the game, the Golden Week holiday is when the main character takes his little cousin out to meet all his friends. But our little Souji isn't quite ready to meet a bunch of people like that, so this happened instead!
> 
> This chapter felt like it took forever to write. Coming up with cute things to do with kids was so difficult. Don't worry—even though I said that, I still have plenty of ideas and plans for Souji, hehe.
> 
> And we really couldn't resist that little bit of butterfly symbolism there.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Prince and the Punk, Part 1
> 
> The plot makes a comeback as the Midnight Channel airs again.


	11. The Prince and the Punk, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke takes some initiative in investigating the killer's next target. This goes as well as one would expect.

[5/08: Sunday]

_Dear Mom~_

_Happy Mother's Day! You thought I'd forget again, didn't you!? Of course not. I'm a good daughter, don't you know it!_

_I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but I wanted to give you some good news. The good news didn't happen, so I guess you get sort-of-okay news instead. I found a piano in the music room at school. Good, right? But the not-so-good is that it's hurting and I'm having some trouble fixing it. I'd send you a picture of it, but I can't make you cry on Mother's Day. Still, something's better than nothing, so I'm glad I at least have that! I'll figure it out, though, don't you worry, or I'm not your daughter!_

_Oh! I made a few more friends. A dorky boy and a princess. They have evil dark sides but I totally made them accept them and I guess they're gonna grow from the experience or something. I'm not sure myself, to be honest. I, on the other hand, don't have an evil dark side. Can you believe it? I'm special!!!!_

_Mom, you know, I think it's all because of you!_

Nanako paused, thinking of Souji... and then began to type furiously into her phone.

* * *

Speaking of Souji, he seemed to be holding up well despite the fact that it was Mother's Day and they hadn't seen or even heard from his mother in a week. The new episodes of Loveline and Featherman helped, of course, as well as Foxie. Nanako observed that the stuffed animal moved around the house from time to time. Before school on Friday, it had been on the kitchen counter, apparently helping Souji make breakfast for them, and later that day, she'd found it sitting on the tea table, watching him finish his homework. In fact, it was there right now. He'd turned it to face the TV.

Now that morning television was over, Nanako wasn't sure what she wanted to do. The idea of hitting the books after spending all Friday and all Saturday studying just made her want to hit her head against the table. Before she could, though, her cell phone rang. She was excited for a moment, thinking it might have been her mom, but the ring tone was the default one, not Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.1.

Ah, but it was someone in her contact list: Chie. "Yo," Nanako greeted.

"Hey, Nanako," Chie said. "I was wondering if you wanted to take a break from studying? I'm seriously at my limit!"

"Hell yeah! You wanna come over and watch movies or something? I've got cookies."

"Ohhh, cookies!" Chie sounded wistful. "But actually, I'd rather get some fresh air. We can get some training done together, and I can show you some kicks!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Nanako breathed. Oh, to get out of this house again! To get some exercise!

While Chie told her where they'd meet—the flood plain—Nanako watched Souji as he was absorbed in a commercial advertising a strawberry-flavored candy. "Yeah, sure, I'll be there in about 20."

"Cool! Bring some water because we're gonna work out!" Chie hung up with enthusiasm.

Nanako put her cell phone away and then went to her room to get changed. Her gym clothes seemed to be the best bet. She hardly wore them, anyway. They were a jacket and sweat pants, blue-green in color, just like the boys wore, with Y on the right breast and H on the left. Not stylish at all, but who cared? It was a Sunday!

When she came back downstairs, Souji blinked at her. "Oh... are you going out?"

"Yep, and so are you! Come on, bring along your bug-catching stuff. We're going on a picnic!"

He blinked even more rapidly at her, then began to excitedly grab his things. While he did that, she packed a quick lunch in a duffel bag and soon they were at the riverbank.

Nanako waved at Chie, who was already punching invisible enemies in the air. "Hey, girl!"

Chie smiled with teeth. "Hey! Oh! Who's that?"

Nanako felt Souji hide behind her and grip the fabric of her sweat pants. "This is my little cousin, Souji-kun. He's a little shy." She paused, because that was an understatement. "Souji-kun, this is my friend Chie from school. I'm going to practice P.E. with her. You, lucky boy, can watch, or try to find some bugs, hmm? We should probably let out the ones we found on Wednesday."

"B-bugs!?" said Chie. She stepped back several feet and raised her hands defensively in front of her. "Keep it away from me!"

"You're afraid of bugs?" Nanako narrowed her eyes mischievously. "Souuuji, Grasshopper-san is still in your jar, right?"

"Nanako! Do _not_ even think about it! I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay," Nanako relented. "But gosh, you're an entomophobe, eh?"

"I am not!" Chie snapped.

"It means fear of bugs."

Chie huffed. "Do we have to know that for our exam tomorrow?"

"I wish," Nanako replied. "Since I know it already. Anyway, do you wanna have lunch first, or should we work up an appetite? Umm, Sou-chan, I can't really move when you're hugging my legs, could you—thanks."

The two girls practiced punches and kicks together, and Nanako taught her friend some of the aikido she knew. Souji sat on the grass and watched them, the jar of bugs held idly in his hands. When Nanako was winded, she called a time out for lunch, though she was jealous of Chie's stamina. The other girl seemed ready to continue for another half an hour.

Nanako pulled out a blanket from the duffel bag and spread it on the grass and they had a little picnic eating the fried egg sandwiches she'd made for them. Thankfully, Souji didn't seem to be afraid of Chie anymore. He probably just needed to get used to her. In fact, he even answered some of the simple questions the girl asked him.

"Must be fun living with Nanako, huh? I think for her, every day has to be an adventure." Chie smiled before tearing out a bite of her sandwich.

"Y-yeah... It's fun," Souji admitted quietly, his cheeks becoming faintly pink.

Nanako explained that his mom was out of town, so they'd spent Golden Week together.

"Aww!" said Chie. "That's really sweet! I wish I had a cute 'little bro'! The only family like that I have are my twin cousins, and they're both girls. They're bratty, too. Uh, don't tell them I said that!"

When they were done with the sandwiches, Nanako took out the bag of dinosaur cookies she'd packed. "Souji-kun gets dibs on the pterodactyl, but what do you want, Chie?"

Chie marveled at the design of the cookies. "Did you make these yourself? I'll take the tyrannosaurus and the stegosaurus!"

Nanako admitted that she'd used a refrigerated cookie dough package and cookie cutters from Junes, and Chie admitted that she would have done the same.

"I like the tyrannosaurus rex because it ate meat!" Chie said rather predictably. Nanako laughed while Chie pretended to have it attack the stegosaurus to put on a little show for Souji, who had his pterodactyl fly around a bit before he finally ate it.

Bonding over cookies... the only way to bond!

* * *

That evening after dinner, Nanako was doing some last-minute studying at the tea table. It wasn't going very well. She had reached that point in the crunch time studying cycle that said, 'you either know it or you don't.' It didn't help that Yosuke had called her in a panic asking if she had the answer to a particular problem in their math class, and when she'd turned to that page in her notes, she couldn't make heads or tails of the question either, dispiriting the both of them.

Fortunately when she was starting to get really frustrated, Souji asked her the meaning of a word in the book he was reading for leisure, and that distracted her for a few minutes as her curiosity took over. She, of course, had to know what he was reading and make him talk about it. It was a picture book about different types of trains.

Before she could get back to her own work, the front door opened and there was Aunt Seta, still dressed in her business clothes and pulling a suitcase behind her. She appeared somewhat frazzled; her dark brown hair was loose and all over the place, and a few of her blouse's top buttons had been loosened.

In a flash, Souji jumped to his feet, raced over to her, and hugged her legs.

"Souji!" Aunt Seta scolded lightly. "Come on, I can't move this when you're—"

"H-happy Mother's Day..." the boy said.

Aunt Seta paused and blinked. "Oh... It is that day, isn't it?" Souji nodded against her legs, and then drew back, his face flushed with emotion. "Well... thank you, dear. Have you been a good boy for Nanako-chan?"

"Y-yes, Mama..."

"Good. You seem to be so happy... Then... I'm happy, too, darling." Aunt Seta smiled at him with a warm but tired smile, and then turned back to her suitcase. "In fact, I have something for you." She unzipped a compartment on the suitcase and pulled out a bag of hard candies and gave it to the boy, who stared at it in absolute wonder.

"M-Mama...!"

"I missed Children's Day, after all." Aunt Seta patted his head, and then turned away from him to resume her struggle with pulling the suitcase into her room. A wheel caught on the corner of the wall, and she swore at it until it cooperated.

"Uh, how was your trip, Aunt Seta?" Nanako asked, more out of courtesy than curiosity.

"We closed the deal," the woman reported with obvious pride, "though it took longer than we thought. Weather was nice out there, rained a bit, but wasn't too hot. The hotel was adequate. I'm exhausted... I'll probably change and then go straight to bed."

"Oh, all right," Nanako said hesitantly. The woman was true to her word. Once she'd reached her room, she closed the door behind her and didn't come back out.

Nanako looked at her cousin. The boy was still staring at the candy bag. She had a feeling that he wouldn't open it. He'd keep it as a souvenir. God, what a terrible thought... Still, Nanako was surprised her aunt had remembered to get him something—but it was just a bag of candy, probably she'd bought it right at the train station as an afterthought.

"Uh, umm, big sis..." Souji had broken out of his trance to look at her. "The flowers..."

At school, Souji had made red flowers out of paper as a project for Mother's Day. It included a handmade card, too. The words, "I LOVE YOU" filled up most of the card, surrounded by a number of multicolored hearts. Souji had planned to give them to his mother. "We'll put them on the fridge," Nanako told him, and proceeded to do just that.

* * *

[5/13: Friday]

Exams were the source of all evil. Really, Nanako had spent quite a long time studying and wasn't sure it had done her any good. She considered herself smart, but maybe not exactly book smart. Her least favorite subjects were math and literature. It wasn't that she was bad at math—she just didn't have the patience to deal with the more abstract problems. When they had real-world applications she could get motivated, but otherwise she simply had no interest. And literature... she liked reading, but hated being forced to read. She knew what she liked—adventure stories and hard mysteries—the sorts of books that were almost never assigned.

Still, she was pretty sure she did better than Yosuke and Chie, heh heh... They were both looking pretty down by the time Friday and the freedom it represented came around.

"I need some comfort food," Chie whined. "Let's go get some steak!"

"To Junes!" Nanako raised a fist. They were still at school at the moment.

"But the steak there sucks," Chie protested. "I want a skewer from Souzai Daigaku. Nanako! Have you been there?"

"Nope."

"They don't have enough seating for all of us," Yosuke pointed out. "I'm not in the mood to stand around and watch you eat, you carnivore."

"You're just upset you can't use your discount there." Chie crossed her arms, absently mimicking his current pose.

"I was going to suggest getting takeout there," Yosuke said, "bringing it to Junes, and then eating it at the food court."

"All right!" Chie opened her purse and handed some bills out to Yosuke. "Pick me up three—no, four—skewers. Yukiko, do you want any? Nanako, oh, get another for Nanako. It's on me. So that's... five."

Yosuke stared at the money suddenly in front of him. "Wait, what?"

"Souzai Daigaku is on the other side of town from Junes!" Chie said. "You have a bike, so it'll be way faster if you went and got the food for us. We'll meet you at Junes."

He looked to Nanako for rescue, but she just shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I don't wanna walk all the way there. But I'm not sure that he can carry all that and steer the bike at—"

Before she could finish, Yosuke scowled, pocketed the money, and headed out of the classroom. "I'll see you at the food court."

The girls watched him leave. "That wasn't a challenge," Nanako said. "But okay."

* * *

The three girls had been chatting for about half an hour when Yosuke finally arrived at the food court. He didn't say a word, just kind of threw the plastic bag carrying the takeout boxes onto the table and then took a seat far away from Nanako.

"Uh, thanks, Yosuke!" Chie called to him before diving right into the food. "Oh, but where's my change?"

Yosuke silently produced some coins and slid them across the table to her. Then he put on his headphones and rested his head on the table.

"What's got into him?" Chie wondered.

"I'm gonna guess... he crashed his bike," Nanako said. "Maybe you should buy him a soda. He looks like he could use one."

"Y-yeah," said Chie. She stood up and went to the food counter.

While she was ordering, Nanako was left with Yukiko, but couldn't think of anything to talk about, so she focused on eating her steak skewer. It was okay, as steak went. It wasn't that much better than the Junes steak, in her opinion, but she wasn't a connoisseur.

She was trying to identify the song Yosuke was listening to, since he'd put the volume up too high, when she spied Detective Adachi walking by the food counter. She excused herself from Yukiko to intercept him. "Adachi-san!"

"Eh?" The man seemed surprised at being addressed. "Oh, Nanako-kun. Hanging out with your friends, huh? I'm, uh, on break." He turned a sheepish grin on her.

He wasn't fooling Nanako, though he probably knew it. She ignored it and got to the point. "You left something the last time you visited." She handed him the lighter.

Adachi's shoulders slumped in obvious relief. "God, I was wondering where that went. It was driving me half mad! I tore my apartment apart looking for it..."

"I'm sorry," Nanako said softly, stricken by his words. "I should have returned it to you sooner."

"Hey, it's okay! I'm just glad to have it back." Adachi had on a reminiscent smile as he traced the etching on the lighter with his thumb. "It was a gift from your uncle. Well, not really a gift, haha... He made me light his cigarettes with it." He looked at Nanako's face. "Thank you. It's kind of important to me."

"Y-yeah." Nanako watched him stow it safely away in his pocket, and then pat it as if to make sure that it was really there. She thought carefully on how to word what she wanted to say next. "Hey, umm, Adachi-san... You didn't visit on Wednesday."

Aunt Seta had actually cooked on Wednesday, and to Nanako's shock, she was actually good at it. It had been tonkatsu with homemade sauce and rice. Then Aunt Seta had checked her phone and found out that Adachi wasn't coming over. Nanako had tried her damnedest to read her aunt's expression; it appeared to have been mostly annoyance. Nanako knew she shouldn't get in her aunt's business, but she was just too curious about her relationship with the detective.

"Ehh..." Adachi said. "I can't help it when I have to work overtime. You understand that, right?" He shrugged.

"Yeah," she replied. "Maybe I'll let you go so you won't have to work any today, huh?"

"You're a good kid," he said. He waved at her in a friendly manner as he turned back into the store.

Nanako returned to her friends at the table in the food court to find that everyone had been watching her speak with Adachi. Even Yosuke had stopped sulking to watch—or maybe the root beer float Chie had given him had cheered him up. Chie asked Nanako who he was and what she had talked with him about, and Nanako explained that Adachi used to be her uncle's partner in the force.

"'Used to be?' Did he get promoted, or demoted, or something?" Chie asked.

"I probably worded that poorly," said Nanako. "My uncle, Sachio Seta, passed away. That's why they're ex-partners."

Chie covered her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Nanako shrugged. "I never met the guy." She further explained her living situation. "It's a bit awkward in that house. I'm always afraid of triggering memories with my aunt."

"Sachio Seta," Yosuke mused. "I've heard that name before."

"It was big news when he died," Yukiko murmured. "Such a tragedy..."

"Oh, was he the cop that..." Yosuke trailed off, looking sick all of a sudden. "Oh, crap!"

"Y-yeah," Nanako confirmed.

"Wait, so your cousin Souji-kun... doesn't have a father?" Chie said. "That's why you spent Golden Week with him..."

"No wonder you blew me off," Yosuke muttered. "I don't blame you at all."

"Souji-kun is adorable," Nanako said, "but he's so... introverted, and sometimes he feels so broken... I can't tell if it's because of what happened with his dad, or if he was always like this. I'm afraid to ask." Honestly, she wasn't sure Aunt Seta would even understand what she was talking about if she did ask. "I'm trying my best to reach out to him, and, on the bright side, he is reaching back. He likes me."

"That's good, at least. Well, as long as you aren't ordering him around," Yosuke said.

"You have to be cruel to be kind," Nanako replied. "He'll never break out of his shell if I leave him be, so, yeah, I do have to push him at least a little."

"He got over his shyness with me pretty fast," Chie said. "There's hope for him!"

They spoke more about the quirks of family before parting ways for the day.

* * *

[5/14: Saturday]

It was finally raining, and raining so heavily that it promised to last all night. Nanako kept her excitement on the down low, but in truth she'd been hella bored lately. All throughout exam week she occasionally caught herself daydreaming of throwing some of her acquaintances into the TV just so she could fight another Shadow. Maybe Kou, or that fat girl, or even Morooka...

But that would violate Rule #1, and she wasn't going to break any of her rules just yet, though she was almost bored enough to break Rule #2 and get some solo training in. Working with her squad was great, but with them to fall back on, she didn't feel like she was pulling her own weight. She also felt like she wasn't learning how to get the most out of her wild card ability. Switching Personas on the fly for any sort of situation they'd run into, that was her goal.

It was just... the Shadows in Yukiko's Castle weren't a challenge anymore. Nanako had asked Teddie if there was anywhere else they could go, and he'd said no. She reminded him of that foggy place with the red floor tiles that they went to their very first time in the TV World—where they'd almost died. He said he couldn't find it again, and Nanako figured he probably wasn't capable of lying to her. There had been something about that place. It was probably hidden from him.

Regardless, there wasn't much to be done while waiting for night to come, and Nanako felt restless. The outlet for some of her pent-up energy was working at the daycare. It would have been better if it hadn't been raining, though. The kids were all stuck inside the building, and the daycare manager had them watching a movie. On the bright side, with all the kids in front of the TV, it was easier for Nanako to be near Souji. He'd situated himself at the edge of the group, and she sat right next to him. Soon enough, other kids scooted themselves to sit around her, and Souji found himself in the center of a crowd. When he seemed uncomfortable by this turn of events, Nanako gently squeezed his shoulder, assuring him that she was there for him, and he calmed down with a little smile.

That night, she was in the middle of an exciting dream about fighting a giant mecha when her cell phone rang. It was Yosuke. She interrupted him before he could say much of anything and told him to shut up and never call after midnight again. Anything he'd seen on the Midnight Channel could be dealt with in the morning. He was still protesting when she hung up and powered down her cell phone to prevent further calls.

Then she returned to her dream, but unfortunately couldn't recapture it.

* * *

[5/15: Sunday]

They met up at what Yukiko now called their 'Secret Headquarters.' It was just the Junes food court, but Nanako was amused by the name. She was glad her friends were getting into their assigned roles. Yosuke, for one, seemed really happy to be able to contribute what he'd discovered, despite Nanako's reaction last night. As it turned out, only he and Chie had managed to watch the Midnight Channel. Chie didn't recognize the guy at all, but Yosuke said that the silhouette he'd seen looked kinda like the guy who had been on a recent news segment about biker gangs.

"So he might be in a biker gang," Nanako mused. Their next party member was going to be a badass. She was looking forward to it already. Well, technically she supposed they should try to prevent the guy from being kidnapped and try to catch the culprit in the act, but...

Unfortunately, the news segment hadn't revealed the guy's name. Yosuke said he had an idea who it might be, but wanted to confirm it first before they pursued a wrong avenue. He excused himself to do that, and the three girls then went to the electronics section to speak with Teddie through the big TV there. The bear confirmed that no one had been thrown into the TV World. Teddie also whined about being bored since they hadn't visited him in a while, and Nanako told him it probably wouldn't be much longer. "Get another pair of glasses ready," she told him, and he seemed happy to be of service.

"So it seems people show up blurry on the Midnight Channel before they're kidnapped, and then when they're thrown in, their Shadow comes out and that weird show airs," Chie remarked.

"What weird show?" Yukiko asked. "Did I have one?"

Chie and Nanako exchanged glances. "Don't worry about it," Nanako said. "It was just your Shadow talking about being a princess. Because your dungeon was a castle." Out of the corner of her eye, Chie passed a grateful nod at her for the vague description.

"Something about lacy—Ow!" Nanako punched Teddie through the TV. "Bossss! What was that for?"

"Ahem. Anyway," said Nanako, "I guess we have to wait for Yosuke to make progress on identifying that guy." A peal of thunder rumbled through the store, prompting her to finish with, "We should get home before it starts raining."

* * *

[5/16: Monday]

"Here," Yosuke said in class the next morning. He showed Nanako the screen on his cell phone. "I took a picture of the Midnight Channel! I wasn't sure it would show up, but it did. I'm pretty sure I know who it is. I'm gonna check it out after school, and then I'll call you, okay?"

"Can your phone record video, too?" she asked. "That could be useful."

"Well, maybe, but my SD card is kinda small. I'll try it tonight, if it rains again," he promised.

Yosuke was restless all day in class. Nanako could tell because his foot kept tapping the leg of her desk, and he wasn't trying to get her attention or anything. He just wanted to get moving. She wondered why he was so intent on figuring out the guy's identity on his own. She figured it had to do with the fact that he was the only boy on the team. Maybe he was having his own doubts about pulling his weight. Well, let him prove himself. What was the worst that could happen?

...She recalled the last time she'd asked herself that. It had been when she'd first pushed him into the TV.

Yeah...

It would be a good opportunity to work on her tailing skills, so she followed Yosuke out of class. Unfortunately, when he headed to the school's side lot, she realized she'd totally forgotten that he had a bike. While she watched him curse and struggle to get it free from its chain, she considered 'borrowing' someone else's bike, but probably all of them were locked, and she wouldn't have enough time to jimmy one free, anyway. Just moments later, Yosuke was on his bike and on the move.

She should've just asked to come with him, really, but where was the fun in that?

Yukiko and Chie were loitering at the school gates, so she asked them which way he went. "East," said Chie. "Towards the flood plain or the shopping district, I guess. But, uh, you could just call him, right?"

Nanako imagined Yosuke trying to answer his phone while biking, and although the visual was amusing, she didn't need him to get hurt.

While walking towards the shopping district, she spotted Saki Konishi heading in the same direction. "Saki-senpai!" she called, and the older girl waited for her.

"You should wear your hair down," Saki chided gently upon her approach. "If you keep it in a ponytail, it's like you permed it for nothing."

"Y-yeah... I know," Nanako answered. "I see yours didn't stay straight for very long."

Saki sighed. "It never does."

They began to walk down the road together. "So... how are you?" Nanako asked.

"Please don't ask that every time we meet," Saki said, rubbing her nose. "It's tiresome, and everyone else does it, too."

"Ah, sorry—"

"And don't apologize, either. I don't... I don't want sympathy." Saki's expression softened when Nanako looked chastised. "I'm sorry. Most people treat me like a time bomb, or else a sick animal. I'm not me anymore. I'm Naoki's sister."

"Do people try to pretend that Naoki-kun never existed?" Nanako asked, thinking of her uncle. "Or do their best to avoid mentioning him at all?"

Saki nodded, and her hair danced with the action. Nanako noticed it because her wavy hair was still so dazzling to her. "My parents act like he's just gone out with his friends and forgot to call home. It's sickening. I try to stay away from there, but... I have to help out. I have to do Naoki's chores around the store now. It's where I'm heading, actually."

"Do you still work at Junes? I haven't seen you there in a while. Well, not that I visit every day."

"I had my hours reduced. Parents want me to quit, but, well, they've always wanted me to quit. They hate Junes, and they hate that I work there, and... I don't know, maybe a part of me wants to be hated by them. It's better than being forgotten, like the shopping district is, slowly but surely."

"I buy pretty much everything from Junes," Nanako admitted quietly. "I guess I'm part of the problem, huh?"

Saki waved her hand and made a dismissive sound. "I'm not judging you, and no one should. It's the future. Really, even the megastores will eventually be replaced by online shopping. Hah, you have King Moron for homeroom, right? He rants and raves about technology because he can't handle how different the world is becoming from what he's familiar with. That's everyone over a certain age, it really is."

Nanako remembered how her dad had complained and complained and complained when he'd been given a smartphone for work and had been forced to learn how to use the email function on it. Now he couldn't live a day without it. Nanako primarily communicated with both her parents through email, actually. "Well, mostly he raves about morality, or rather, immorality, but I know what you mean," she said. "If it wasn't Junes, it'd be a Nanjo or Kirijo chain or something else."

"Exactly," Saki said emphatically. "People in Inaba think with a small town mentality, but sooner than they expect, it's going to become a big town, and they're gonna have to get with the times. It's not like they're saints or anything anyway. Look at the shrine in the shopping district. It's so dingy! Even the gods are being left behind!"

Izanami stirred in the back of Nanako's mind, and she wondered for a moment how much the average person knew about Japanese mythology outside of popular anime. "Don't let your grandma catch you saying that," Nanako warned with a somewhat desperate laugh. "Uh, by the way, how'd you know I'm in Morooka's homeroom class?"

"Because you have class with Hana-chan. He's complained about King Moron many times. Almost as often as he's mentioned you."

"Yosuke? You know, I was going to ask if you saw him go by this way. I'm kind of following hi—umm..." Nanako cut off her own words because she became aware that Saki was looking at her slyly. "Uh, no. It's not like that. He's just a friend."

"Hana-chan is a good guy," Saki said lightly. "He deserves a good girl."

 _Oh god,_ thought Nanako. _Please don't point him in that direction._ But the more she denied it, the more Saki would probably think it was true, so she turned the tables instead. "I don't fit that description. And, well, _you_ were supposed to be that good girl, you know."

Saki hissed as she sharply took in air. Then she laughed ruefully. "I never said I was a saint, either," she admitted. "I never told him that I already have a boyfriend, but I think he's finally realized I'm not interested in him. Our shifts at Junes haven't overlapped in quite a while, at least. I wonder if that's his doing. As for your question... He did go by, and he asked me if I recognized someone in a picture. It looked kind of like Kanji Tatsumi. He didn't explain what it was about. He just nodded, thanked me, and headed off on his bike. Maybe he's going to see Kanji-kun. His mother owns the textiles shop down the road from the liquor store. We're almost there, anyway. If you don't know it, I could point it out to you."

In fact, they'd walked all the way to the central shopping district together. There was that gas station, and there was the bookstore, and there was the Velvet Room door, and there was Yosuke, hauling ass towards them, his bike nowhere in sight. "Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don't kill me!" he was shouting.

Nanako blinked, and then saw what he was running from: a tall, bleached-blond guy wearing a purple shirt with a skull on it. He wore a Yasogami High jacket over his shoulders, and it fluttered in the wind behind him. The man's large hands were balled into fists, and with his quick, determined stride, he was totally gaining on Yosuke.

"Oh, speaking of the devil, that's Kanji-kun now," Saki said mildly.

"GET YOUR PUNK ASS BACK HERE AND GET BENT!" Kanji shouted. He slowed for a second to nod and say, "Hello, Senpai," to Saki and then resumed the chase.

Nanako watched Yosuke run—he'd crossed the road and was now doubling back the way he'd come—for a long moment because, hey, it was entertaining, but then decided to intervene because it was clear he'd be caught soon. Kanji's strides were just too long. When Kanji passed by her, Nanako tripped him. To her surprise, instead of face-planting right into the sidewalk, the man caught himself. He turned a glare on her, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Tch, what wassat for?"

"Sorry," Nanako said. "I kind of need Yosuke in one piece." She pointedly ignored Saki's significant look.

"Dude's a friggin' asshole," Kanji complained. "Got up in my business, showing me some damn photo when I was busy talkin' to, uh, t-talkin' to..." Kanji's face became flushed. "D-dammit, I never got his name... Oh, shit, there he is!"

A slender figure wearing a blue double-breasted cardigan coat, a matching boy's cap, and plaid blue pants was walking down the road towards them. As the boy approached, Nanako had to stop her jaw from dropping. Bluish hair, gray eyes, that signature cap, yes, she recognized him. "Detective Prince!?" she shouted.

The blue-clad boy stopped and eyed her. "Hello, ma'am. Forgive the intrusion, but I must have a word with Tatsumi-san—"

 _Oh my god, he called me 'ma'am.' He is so adorable!_ Nanako thought. _Souji-kun, you now have competition!_ "Naoto Shirogane! Are you investigating the murders?"

The boy's eyes widened. "I am making such inquiries, yes... May I ask how you know of me?"

"Detective Prince," Nanako repeated. When the boy looked tired by that answer, she added, "My dad's a detective with the Tokyo PD."

"My fame precedes me," Naoto said with a small sigh. "I must admit that I did not expect that here... However, misfortune can be turned to advantage. Might I know your name?"

"Oh, I'm Nanako Dojima! And Kanji-kun doesn't know anything, but I do, so let's uh, let's go somewhere and talk!" She wanted so much to grab the young detective by the shoulder and steer him into Aiya or something and start talking shop. The Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane! Here in Inaba, talking to her! She could die happy!

Naoto raised an eyebrow at Kanji, who looked conflicted. "I have made plans to speak with Tatsumi-san after school tomorrow, as I currently do not have the time. I see you are also a student at Yasogami High, Dojima-san. Perhaps you could join us."

"Wh-what," said Kanji. "You're a d-detective? Shit! You think I'm the killer or something?" He looked ready to punch a wall. "Goddamn cops! I got nothin' to do with it!"

"Calm down, Kanji-kun," said Nanako. "I know you're not the killer. Why would the killer target himself? That's just dumb."

Now Naoto's raised eyebrow was directed at Nanako. "Target himself...?" he mused. "Well, are we in agreement, then? We will meet at the gates to Yasogami High after school lets out tomorrow."

 _I will sooo be there,_ Nanako thought. She nodded instead. Kanji looked reluctant, but then let out a, "Tch, yeah..." Naoto nodded, satisfied, and then walked away.

"Haven't been to school in weeks," Kanji mumbled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I thought for sure that boy would question me," Saki remarked. She sounded relieved that he hadn't.

"Maybe he didn't recognize you as Naoki-kun's sister," Nanako said. "He'll probably come by and bother you later."

"Probably." Saki sighed. "He seemed polite enough, anyway, unlike some of the police who've talked to me."

Nanako turned to Kanji and addressed him. "I want to give you a warning. Someone might try to kidnap you."

"Kidnap me? Uh, Senpai... You sure about that?" His brow knit together. "Come to think of it, that idiot kid I was chasin' said something like that."

"Yosuke's heart is in the right place, even if his brain isn't. Really, Kanji-kun. I know you don't know me, but please be careful if you answer the door at night for strangers. Better yet, ask the person's name before answering, or answer with one eye closed."

"They'd have to be an idiot to pick a fight with me," he said, cracking his knuckles, "but thanks for the warning, I guess."

Her job done, Nanako parted ways with Kanji and Saki and headed home, where she retired early in her utter excitement for the day to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saki ships Yosuke/Nanako. Oh dear. It's not my intention to make this a shipfic, honest!
> 
> Naoto Shirogane is supposed to be a well-known detective. Even if most of Inaba has never really heard of him, someone like Nanako, who's so proud to be a detective's daughter, definitely would have.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Prince and the Punk, Part 2
> 
> Nanako does her best to ingratiate herself with the Detective Prince.


	12. The Prince and the Punk, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako candidly discusses the murder case while probing Naoto's knowledge. Despite her warnings, the Midnight Channel airs again.

[5/17: Tuesday]

Yosuke thanked Nanako in the classroom the next morning before school. "I thought that guy was going to kill me."

"Kill you?" Chie asked, overhearing. "Who what now?"

"Kanji Tatsumi," Yosuke explained. "He's the guy on the Midnight Channel. I tried to warn him, but he took it the wrong way. I barely got out of there with my bike. Nanako-san is my savior." He laughed a little awkwardly at the admission.

"Buy me a drink and we're even," Nanako told him, and he readily agreed.

"Kanji Tatsumi," Yukiko repeated, also joining in the conversation. "We—that is, my family—often order from his family's shop. Do you think we should visit?"

"Sure," said Nanako. "You three can go after school today. I can't, though—I have a date!"

"A date!?" Both Yosuke and Chie looked taken aback.

"Will you make him call you 'Boss'?" Yosuke asked, his expression dark.

"I'm kidding," she admitted. "But I do have plans." She considered inviting them to join her, but only for a very brief moment. She wanted the Detective Prince all to herself. "I'll tell you about it later, I promise."

"It's the piano, isn't it?" Yosuke guessed. "You're going to work on it today, huh?"

"What piano?" Chie asked.

"The piano in the music room," Yosuke explained helpfully. "Nanako-san can play the piano. She's pretty good at it, too!"

Nanako shrugged off the compliment. "I'm nowhere near as good as my mom."

"Oh!" said Chie. "You did say she plays professionally. That's really neat. You should play something for us sometime!"

"Make a theme song for the DEATH Squad." Yosuke chuckled. "I'll make it my new ringtone for you."

"Can you play Moonlight Sonata?" Yukiko asked. "I've always thought that was very pretty."

With reluctance that faded once she warmed up to the subject, Nanako spoke of her skill level and what songs she knew until class started.

* * *

After school, Nanako stood next to Kanji Tatsumi as they both waited for Naoto Shirogane to show up.

Kanji was rather quiet, but his posture betrayed his nervousness. He kept shifting restlessly and combing his fingers over his carefully styled hair.

"So, uh, did he say what he wanted to talk to you about?" Nanako asked.

"Dunno," Kanji admitted. "When he invited you along, it sure as hell threw me for a loop." He sounded sullen. Nanako shot him a questioning look, and he avoided her eyes. "I dunno... It's nothing."

Nanako opened her mouth to inquire further when she noticed Kanji's posture stiffen. She turned see Naoto bearing down on them. He was easily spotted because he stood out like a sore thumb. He was wearing the same strangely-fashionable coat and adorable cap as yesterday.

"Tatsumi-san, Dojima-san." Naoto nodded to each of them in turn upon approaching.

"Shirogane-san, please call me Nanako. 'Dojima-san' is my father." Nanako giggled. _Oh god, I just giggled..._

"Very well," said Naoto. "Nanako-san."

"And jus' call me Kanji. No need to be formal."

"Kanji-san," Naoto murmured. "Let us be off. We seem to be attracting attention."

Nanako glanced towards the gate and saw a pair of heads, two different hues of light brown, quickly hide behind it. Chie and Yosuke? Dammit, they were supposed to be visiting the textiles shop. Nanako thought of shouting at them but decided that would probably give a poor, if accurate, impression.

Naoto began to walk leisurely down the road that led away from the school. "Kanji-san, I would like to direct my first questions at you. Please bear the inquiry without insult—they are simply standard procedure. I understand that at times, you are active during the late hours of the night. Were the nights of April 11th and April 14th such nights?"

"Err, ahh," Kanji mumbled. "Was a month ago, man. I don't really remember that far back..."

"It was, as they say, a long shot." The detective seemed unconcerned that Kanji couldn't remember, though he did scribble something down on a notepad.

"Those were the nights before the bodies were discovered," Nanako added helpfully. "Maybe you saw or heard something?"

"Notta thing," Kanji said. "I mean, s'just the truth. Not tryin' to hide anything." He looked at Nanako. "I'll tell you this. Naoki Konishi was my friend. If I knew anything that could help, I would've said already."

"Are you aware that you were on television last Friday?" Naoto asked next. Nanako now watched the detective closely. What did he know of television's role in all of this?

"I was?" Kanji's brow knit together. "I don't—oh, you mean that damned film crew? You gotta be a special brand of dumb to want to get up in those bikers' business. I saved their asses and they never bothered to thank me."

"Oh, so you're not part of the biker gang," Nanako noted.

"'Course not. I ain't got a motorcycle. Just a bike. I ain't even got a license for it."

 _Don't worry, you'll be part of my gang, soon enough,_ Nanako thought.

"Those dicks always make such a ruckus, drives me up a wall, so I show them the light, as it were... Made 'em move their shit to the flood plain instead of the shopping district so my ma could get some sleep at night."

"Huh..." Nanako mused.

Naoto addressed her suddenly. "Nanako-san. You implied previously that you had knowledge on this case to impart."

"Oh, umm. Why don't we sit down somewhere? It could take a while."

Conveniently, they weren't far from the picnic table on the flood plain. Naoto sat on one side with his notepad before him, and Nanako and Kanji made a rather incongruous pair on the other side.

Naoto told Kanji that he did not need to stay, and Kanji looked dejected. "Shoulda known you weren't really interested in me," he muttered loud enough that Nanako heard. She looked at Kanji, and then at Naoto. The way he'd said 'interested' sounded like he'd meant... _Well, Kanji, you have good taste, because I totally have a crush on him, too._ She'd spent a lot of her time taking in the Detective Prince's appearance. She'd noted the stilted way he walked, probably partially caused by those thick-soled boots. She'd looked it up online and he was actually 16, the same age as she was! Though he looked younger, and his voice seemed soft, like he was a late bloomer.

The only problem was his hair. It was so messy! For all his supposed smarts, it's like he didn't know what a comb was. Despite that, it looked soft and Nanako wanted to tug off that cap and touch it.

And that overcoat... Sure, it was a nice coat, probably kept out the cold real well, but it also hid the shape of his body and _wow_ Nanako realized she was getting creepy.

"Kanji-kun, you can stay," Nanako said, "but pay attention, okay? Umm, well..." She couldn't very well tell them about the TV World—that would violate Rule #1—but she could talk about the fog and Yukiko's kidnapping. "I don't know how long you've been in Inaba, Shirogane-san, but I'm sure you're aware of the extreme fog that sometimes sets in. It has been on the news because it's so unusual. In fact, the nights before Ms. Yamano and Naoki-kun's bodies were discovered were filled with this fog—it seems the killer used the fog to cover his actions when he put the bodies on display. The last time we had a fog like that was April 29th, and as you are aware, that night was uneventful. No one was found dead. The average person might be tempted to think that might mean the killer is out of action or else quit, but that would be a mistake. Because I'm certain that he tried."

Naoto stopped writing on his notepad to eye her, and after a moment she continued.

"My friend at school, Yukiko Amagi, was an intended victim. She was kidnapped Saturday evening—April 16th." Nanako explained how the inn was busy, how no one saw it happen, how the person had used a flashlight to blind the girl and then sedated her with something that smelled sweet—possibly chloroform. "We—that is, our fellow classmate Chie Satonaka and I—found her Sunday evening, not far from the inn, but she doesn't remember what happened and could not identify her captor. She doesn't know how she escaped, either. It's possible her captor had mercy, but I doubt it. At the same time, I doubt he'd be careless enough to let her wander around."

"Is she certain her kidnapper was male?" Naoto asked.

"Ah, no," Nanako admitted. "You're right, that's unknown. Yukiko wasn't abused, by the way."

Kanji let out his breath in a relief. "We used to know each other in middle school. If anything happened to her, I'd wanna..."

"Y-yeah," said Nanako. "Me too."

"Until that has been established," Naoto said, "I would prefer to refer to the culprit as 'they' for now." He tilted his head to consider Nanako. "However, it seems to me that the culprit acted too soon in regards to Amagi. If they intended to kill her and then set up the body in the murky fog... Her body would have decayed long before the 29th."

"They could have stored the body in a cold place to preserve it," Nanako suggested. "Or they could have intended to keep her alive until closer to the foggy night through repeated sedation."

The three of them shuddered at the thought of being kept alive just to be killed later.

"Repeated use of chloroform would cause memory loss," Naoto mused. "Neither autopsy reported the detection of chloroform, but it's possible the lab did not test for it. And it is too late now as the bodies are more than likely cremated." Naoto put the end of his pen to his mouth and looked at Nanako. "Amagi's escape concerns me. You found her near her home?"

Ah, Nanako thought. This was the weak point in her story. Of course the detective would spot it. "It's possible the kidnapper put her in the truck and she recovered consciousness in transit enough to fall out and the kidnapper didn't realize it until she was already lost."

Naoto nodded. "That would explain why she was found close to her home. A truck... She doesn't know the make or the style?"

"Yeah, believe me," Nanako said. "I've tried to jog her memory in several different ways, but the information simply isn't there. After the flashlight in her eyes up to us finding her in the woods is all missing."

"May I ask why she did not report to the police of her experience?"

"Her family worried it would affect their reputation, which is already under strain from the fact that Mayumi Yamano had been staying at their inn. It would also affect Yukiko's image at school. It really wouldn't be good for her if the story got around."

"The police can be trusted to be discreet," Naoto commented, "but I do respect that decision. If, indeed, Amagi's kidnapper was the murderer, without that knowledge, the police are not pursuing that avenue."

"W-well, now _you_ know," Nanako pointed out. "So, umm... yeah."

"I do, and I intend to put my full attention to this case." Naoto's smile was small and grim. "That is, in fact, the reason I've come to Inaba. Thank you for your assistance. I was quite surprised to find a high schooler so cooperative."

"You're the Detective Prince!" Nanako said excitedly. "Of course I'd—umm..."

She cut herself off because Naoto had cringed at her words. "Please do not use that ridiculous moniker."

"But you've earned it!" she cried, and she proceeded to rattle off the details of every case that the young detective had solved. "And then my dad's jerk of a coworker came over to the house once and called you 'Defective Ponce' for refusing to take on the stolen diamond case, and I kicked him in the tushie!"

By the end of her rant, Naoto's eyes were wide and his mouth parted—horrified and fascinated all at once.

"Good on you," said Kanji. "Don't take crap from anyone, Senpai."

Then Naoto shook his head and chuckled. It was a soft sound. "If it means that much to you... Very well, I shall not be bothered if you continue to use it."

Victory! Nanako was sure her grin was so wide it was off her face. "Detective Prince! If you're new to town, then... you could use someone to show you around, right?" Sure, Nanako didn't know the town that well herself, but the boy didn't know that.

"I have already familiarized myself with the town's layout," Naoto claimed.

"Yeah, but you don't know the best places to eat! I could go for some ramen right now. How about you? And Kanji-kun, too! Aiya is the best and it's near the textiles shop anyway."

"I'm game," Kanji said. "I'd better let Ma know so she won't cook so much for dinner."

"You're such a good boy, Kanji-kun," Nanako said. His face turned pink and he denied it. She recalled how he'd greeted Saki so respectfully yesterday even in the middle of chasing Yosuke. Appearances could be quite deceiving. He looked like a punk—she'd noticed the piercings and the scar over his eyebrow—but he probably had a big heart inside.

In all honesty, Nanako kind of didn't want Kanji along so that she could pretend it was a date with Naoto, but at the same time, she didn't mind including him on said date. She was all-inclusive like that, after all...

Naoto seemed about to refuse, but then nodded and said, "I suppose I could do with a meal."

They headed down the flood plain, chatting inconsequentially about the town. When they reached the shopping district, Kanji had more to say since he knew all of the stores and their proprietors. "Ieyasu-san closed up shop, and so did Yamura-san, and Ishida-san..."

"Business seems to be drying up," Naoto observed. "It couldn't have happened in only a month." He was implying that they had closed because of the murders.

Kanji scratched his head. "Well, a lotta people blame the Junes on the other side of the river, and that's part of it, but... times are changing. Take clothing, for instance. People are more willing to buy two cheap-ass shirts that'll tear within a month than one well-made one that'd last a year."

"It is a tragedy that logic seems to evade the common man." Naoto sighed. "I prefer quality products myself."

"I know, right?" said Nanako. "I bought something cheap from Daidara's and then it broke and I was pretty mad about it! I could've die—er, it really inconvenienced me. And he told me it was because I bought the cheap one. Well, I know better now. But I just didn't have the money at the time."

"What'd you buy from Daidara's?" Kanji was frowning in thought. "Dude only sells antiques."

"Oh, uh, a cooking pot. A cheap iron one, but the handles fell off," Nanako smoothly lied. "Now I got a nice copper one and it's pretty good so far."

They passed the textiles shop, and Kanji excused himself to check in with his mother. It turned out that 'check in' meant simply opening the sliding front door and shouting, "Hey Ma, I'm going to Aiya with some friends!" at the gray-haired lady sitting on a cushion inside.

The lady said something back, and then Kanji further shouted in a slightly quieter voice, "No, don't get up! You can't meet them!" He then closed the door quickly and turned to the two of them. "Uh, well, let's go." His hands twitched, like he dared them to comment, and Nanako practiced self-control by not laughing at the pinkness of his face.

"Aiya!" Nanako led the way, because she knew where that store was, at least.

"Aiya is great," Kanji agreed. "You know, they deliver anywhere."

"Anywhere?" Naoto repeated. "I have my doubts."

"What, are you going to test it, Detective Prince?" Nanako asked with a teasing lilt.

"Unfortunately, that's beyond the scope of my purpose here." Naoto was smiling playfully. _Ah, good!_ Nanako thought. _He has a sense of humor!_

They entered Aiya and took seats at the counter. Naoto ordered a small beef bowl with extra garlic and no egg. Nanako went with shrimp ramen, and Kanji went with a mega beef bowl, whatever that was. It was probably what Chie had ordered when Nanako last ate here since it came with extra beef.

"How do you like Inaba so far, Shirogane-san?" Nanako asked when they were nearly done. Naoto had finished first. Apparently he had been hungry. "I've barely been here a month. I started living here right at the start of the school term."

"Well, the town is... quaint, I suppose," the detective replied. He scanned the room almost imperceptibly, but Nanako noticed because she was watching him far too closely. It seemed like he was wondering if he'd be overheard by the other customers, but there weren't many anyway, just a couple of fellow teenagers behind them.

"That's just a nice way of saying it's a big bunch of nothing." Despite his words, Kanji's tone was light. "Don't have to be nice about it. But it's home to me."

"I'm here for the school year and then I'm out like a rocket," Nanako said. "Shirogane-san, you're here only for the case, right?"

Naoto nodded and said, "Indeed."

"Do you like traveling?" Nanako asked. "I haven't traveled much, actually. This is the farthest I've ever been away from home."

"Hope people're making you feel welcome," Kanji said. "Sometimes people don't take kindly to outsiders."

Nanako's friendly interrogation was cut short by the bill, which Naoto took care of. When Nanako protested, he said it was part of his expenses. "The information you provided is quite valuable to me."

 _He just admitted he's using us,_ a part of Nanako's brain protested. _Shut up,_ she told it. "If there's anything else we can help with, let us know!" she said. "Umm, my dad is a detective, so..."

"So I've heard," Naoto replied politely. He stood up, adjusted his cap, and headed out of the restaurant.

Nanako cursed herself for repeating that, then followed him out, Kanji shortly behind. She didn't want them to go their separate ways already, but...

Naoto thanked them for their assistance, and Nanako forced him to shake her hand. Then, realizing she was just as bad as the gas station attendant, she asked for a business card. The detective provided one from a case that was stored inside his coat. He waited while she read it, and then tipped his cap when she thanked him with a bow, completing the business card ritual. Then he turned and walked away.

On the downside, Naoto was gone. On the upside, Nanako now had his business phone number and address.

Before heading off herself, Nanako looked at Kanji and reminded him to be careful of strangers calling at home.

"I dunno why you think they'd wanna mess with me," he said, "but I hear you, Senpai. I'll be careful. I won't end up like Naoki... Well, see you 'round." He entered the textiles shop and was gone.

On the way home, Nanako stopped by the part-time job board again. There were a few jobs she hadn't bothered looking at because she'd taken the daycare assistant job. And her eyes roved over to the open gas station attendant job.

After how she'd forced herself on Naoto without any bad intentions (well, admittedly her intentions were rather questionable), she could probably forgive that creepy gas station guy for trying to shake her hand. Maybe... maybe she'd take that job, if she needed money. She jotted down the details in her phone's address book.

The other jobs included a tutoring gig—psh, like she remembered what she'd learned in middle school. She didn't even remember the school principal's name—and folding origami cranes. The latter was for charity, so it was a volunteer job without pay. If she was a better person, maybe, but her time was just too valuable to work without pay, so she didn't take it.

* * *

That night, Nanako sat on her couch in her room and typed with a speed that only a teenager could manage.

_Daaad!!!_

_Guess who I met! Oh, you'll never guess._

_It's a boy. (Don't freak out!)_

_He wears blue._

_He has a cap._

_He's hella smart._

_His name is Naoto Shirogane!_

_Yes, THAT Naoto Shirogane! He's in Inaba working on the murder case. I've already offered my services to help him solve it!_

_He has such piercing silver eyes, like clouds, but I think his vision is clear..._

_If anyone can solve the case, it'll be him, don't you think?_

Her father's reply came only a few minutes later.

_Stay out of his way._

Nanako scowled at her phone. Her dad really was an old stick in the mud sometimes.

She replied: _Too late, Dad, I've already got my hooks into him! He's totes going to be your son-in-law. Even if we have to elope!_

_PS 'totes' means totally._

She expected him either not to reply, or to reply with a humorous demand like, "Where does he live?" but around ten minutes later, a piano concerto signified that a certain someone was calling.

"M-mom?" Nanako asked tentatively upon picking up.

"Honey," her mother said in a stern yet playful voice, "please don't try to give your dad apoplexy."

"Mom! It was a joke! But the Detective Prince is pretty cute... and we did go to lunch together."

"I know you're excited, honey, but I don't want to hear that the doctors have increased your father's blood pressure medication because of you. He's worried enough about you being out there and so far away from him. I am, too, honey..."

Nanako, thoroughly chastised, couldn't find words.

"And you might think you're in love—I did, too, at your age, and I almost married him, but then I met your dad, and—well, don't rush into things, okay?"

"But rushing is what I do," she muttered, somewhat disheartened.

"I know, and I know you're very smart, so I don't have to worry too much about things many other mothers have to worry about, but please be careful out there."

Nanako promised she'd be a good girl.

"And are you getting along with Aunt Seta and little Souji-kun? You haven't mentioned them lately in any of your emails."

"Sort of to the first, definitely to the second," Nanako answered. "Mom, Souji-kun... he's adorable but he's so hurt. His mother loves him, but in such a harsh way... Mom. Please don't tell Dad but it's breaking my heart to see Souji-kun so alone all day. His mom doesn't hug him or anything and, and..." Nanako began to sniffle.

"Let it all out, honey. I can't be there to help, but..."

Nanako told her that the rather sappy Mother's Day email she'd sent had been inspired by Souji. "His mom took down the Mother's Day card he'd made for her that we hung on the fridge... I guess she threw it away, it's just awful to think about...!"

"Then you'll have to love him twice as much," her mother said crisply. "Is this a problem?"

"No, Mom! I'll do it!"

They talked about different things she could do with Souji-kun and ways she could try to involve Aunt Seta before her mother brought up an entirely new subject. "So, you said you found a poor old piano...?"

"Yeah!" Nanako talked about it and explained her problems with it, and her mother gave her some advice.

Before the conversation ended, broken glass sounded out, and a card depicting the sun appeared in Nanako's mind. She put the phone down slowly. Her mother was a social link? What next, her dad through email?

But her mother was her sunshine—or was she her mother's sunshine?—so it was appropriate.

* * *

Nanako was about to retire for the evening when Yukiko called and informed her that Kanji was missing. Although it wasn't unusual for him to be out late, after the warnings Nanako had given him, she figured it probably meant their worst fears were founded and Kanji had been kidnapped. Damn, the kidnapper must be both strong and ballsy to go after that boy. Nanako wasn't sure she'd seen a taller guy in her life. Even her dad wasn't that tall.

Regardless, she'd missed the lacy underwear last time, and it was already kind of late after her talk with her mom, so she decided to bear it and stay up to watch the Midnight Channel. While she waited for midnight to strike, she thought of making popcorn and wondered what would happen if the TV was already on when the show was supposed to start. Would it just keep playing whatever she was watching, or suddenly tune into the Midnight Channel? Maybe it would bleed between them both.

To stave off the boredom from waiting, she began to play a cell phone game. It was an MMORPG that she hadn't logged into in a while. Her virtual mailbox was maxed out in friend messages and 'please come back' items from the company that owned the game. She was still sorting through it all and chatting idly with her in-game guild when a voice rang out.

"Hel-LO, dear viewers... It's time for 'Bad, Bad, Bathhouse'!"

She frowned because that definitely hadn't come from her game—oh crap, it was the Midnight Channel. She typed 'brb' into the chat window and looked at the TV.

It was, uh, Kanji wearing nothing but a fundoshi. His body seemed oily, and he quivered and rubbed himself while speaking of 'sublime love that surpasses the separation of the sexes.' He growled playfully like a pussycat.

He's pretty hot! she thought, noting his muscularity. But, uh, he was lisping, which meant...

He turned around and entered the building behind him, apparently a bathhouse. Then the TV turned off.

Well, he had seemed interested in Naoto, so... this wasn't as surprising as it could be.

She said goodbye to her friends in the online game and then watched her phone for over a minute, expecting someone to call—Yosuke in particular—but her phone remained silent.

Screw it. She called him. Let him suffer for calling her the other day.

"Hey Yosuke, did you see that?" she asked when he picked up.

"..."

"So you did. Did you record it?"

"Y-yeah," Yosuke said after a long moment. "Well, maybe. My hand might have, uh, slipped. Because, uh... You saw that, right? I mean, you called me, so..."

"Yeah. What did you think?"

"It's probably pretty clear what I think!" Yosuke's laugh was high in pitch. "I mean, dude, what the hell was that?"

"Kanji-kun is my sort of guy," Nanako declared. "We gotta save him."

"W-well, yeah, but..."

She told him they'd figure it out tomorrow, and then crawled into bed and giggled herself to sleep. Bad, Bad, Bathhouse, indeed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chisato Dojima is the Sun link. Sorry, Ayane Matsunaga!
> 
> Next Chapter: Bad, Bad, Bathhouse
> 
> The DEATH Squad strip to their skivvies because it's really hot in there.


	13. Bad, Bad, Bathhouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescuing Kanji is no easy feat.

[5/18: Wednesday]

"Did either of you see it? The Midnight Channel?" Yosuke asked Chie and Yukiko before class the next morning. "No? So it's just me and Nanako-san...? Dammit."

"I thought you recorded that," Nanako pointed out.

"It didn't turn out," he said. "Well, the audio is there, but... You know, I don't really want that on my phone."

"I can't think why," Nanako teased. She noticed Chie and Yukiko's puzzled looks. "Well, anyway, the point is that Kanji-kun has been kidnapped and so we'd better go into the TV World after school and see what's up."

* * *

Teddie was excited because he'd detected another human in his world, but his poor 'sniffer' couldn't find out where. He'd wanted them to investigate Kanji to learn more about him, but Nanako simply told him that he was a really nice guy with image and self-esteem issues, what more could he ask for? The no-nonsense tone in her voice suddenly fixed the bear's nose, and they followed him off into the mist until they reached a traditional-looking bathhouse.

"This is awesome!" Nanako exclaimed while they explored the changing area. There were dozens of changing stalls and some stools with towels lying on them. "You know how expensive a bathhouse is? Now we have one for free!"

"You realize there are going to be Shadows in there, right?" Yosuke said. "I can't imagine fighting in there." He pointed with a rather flat expression to a sign that read, 'Men only.'

"It's really hot in there," Chie said, worry in her voice. Yes, they could feel the waves of heat coming from the open bathhouse doorway even from several feet away.

Nanako put one foot on a stool and declared that they should all take their shirts off. "You first, Yosuke!"

The only boy on the team glared at her for a long moment before pulling off his school jacket. He folded it with more skill and care than she expected from him, set it on a stool, and then lovingly removed his headphones and put them on top of the jacket. Then he pulled his white v-neck shirt over his head and set it next to the jacket.

"Yeah," Nanako said, eyeing his bare chest critically, "I didn't expect much."

Yosuke flinched, his whole body drawing back with the action. "Wh-what were you expecting!?"

"I thought you'd be hairier," Chie volunteered, to nods of agreement.

He grumbled a bit, and then Nanako declared, "My turn!" She took off her jacket and tossed it onto a stool without ceremony and then started undoing her blouse's top buttons. Without looking up from her task, she murmured, "Don't get excited, Yosuke. I'm only wearing a sports bra."

"How can that even be called a bra—" Yosuke began, but Nanako suddenly used the stool as leverage to jump into a flying kick that knocked him flat on his back. She kept her foot planted on his chest while she finished taking off the blouse.

"Mm," she said. She rolled her shoulders as she adjusted to the air exposure. "I think this is going to be a fun day. All right. Chie?"

"W-well, I'm also wearing a sports bra."

"Figures!" Yosuke said, then emitted an 'Oof!' as Nanako put her weight on her foot on his chest.

"I don't know about stripping in front of Yosuke," Chie said. Her face was red.

"I've seen you jogging down the road in only a sports bra!" Nanako pointed out. "As part of your morning training!"

"Y-yeah, but that's different. I mean... He's right there!"

Nanako snatched a towel from a stool and dropped it on Yosuke's face. "There, now he can't see." He grabbed it and pulled it off, and then put it back on after seeing her glare.

Chie laughed in astonishment more than anything, but finally she took off her green jacket and the blouse underneath. Her sports bra had a pattern—alternating blue and green horizontal stripes which reminded Nanako of Naoto's plaid pants. Her own bra was plain ol' white.

The two girls turned to Yukiko. "I... I wear a traditional bra, but the heat doesn't bother me at all."

"Damn, I need a fire Persona!" Nanako growled. But... being without her blouse felt freeing, somehow. She was okay with the situation as it was so far. Besides, she didn't wanna visit the Velvet Room. One, it was way back at the backlot, and two, she was still pissed at Margaret for punching her.

"It wouldn't be appropriate for her to be shirtless in front of Yosuke," Chie added. Ah, yes, Nanako was aware of Yukiko's reputation as a delicate flower of womanhood... But Nanako wondered if it would be okay if Yukiko was shirtless in front of a girl instead.

"...Can I take the towel off now?" Yosuke asked, voice muffled by the cloth. "And can you remove your foot, Nanako-san?"

"Tch! You know you like it!" Nanako said, but she did step aside and let him get to his feet. She noted, however, how he looked at both her and Chie's bras and the flush on his face afterward. "By the way, Yosuke, if you get a boner, although I'll be flattered, I'm totally punching it!"

He seemed too flustered to respond.

"Yeah, but then..." Chie began. Then she blushed and looked away, towards the floor.

"Then what?" Nanako asked. "Don't leave me hanging, Chie!"

"He could say that your hand was on his, his...!"

"I wouldn't!"

"You so would," said both Nanako and Chie at the same time.

Nanako put her hands on her hips and appraised Yosuke. "Yeah, I'll have to kick him instead."

"C-can I stay with Teddie...?" he moaned.

"What, and let you have fun imagining what three hot girls are doing in a steamy bathhouse without you? I don't think so."

"Where is Teddie, anyway? He didn't come inside," Chie noted.

"He said it was too hot," Yosuke said. "His fur couldn't 'bear' it, or something."

In all honesty, Teddie's support was of questionable value. He did a great job memorizing what attacks worked and didn't work on particular Shadows, but the team could do that themselves. It was pretty easy to remember when an enemy was immune to, say, fire. Nanako still remembered how an eagle-shaped Shadow had flown through Yukiko's inferno completely unscathed. It left a strong impression. If Teddie could make predictions, now, then they'd be talking!

"Meh," said Nanako. "We don't need him anyway."

They headed in. After only a few minutes, all four of them were wheezing and gasping for air. The entire place was a bathhouse, which meant that every hall and every room was unpleasantly hot. The steam clung to their noses and throats. Nanako was glad she and the other girls wore skirts; she couldn't imagine walking around in pants like Yosuke was.

Fighting Shadows in this condition… It wouldn't be fun, which was soon proven.

Their first opponent was a pair of dog-faced policemen with round bodies, like they'd eaten too many doughnuts. Their bellies had a huge hole in them, as if they had no insides at all, and a key dangled within the cavity. They carried oversized handcuffs and used them as whips. When Nanako brought her naginata down on one of them while it was attacking Yosuke, the weapon slipped out of her hands due to how slick the handle was with sweat. While she scrambled to pick it up from the ground, the police-dog had turned towards her and raised the handcuffs—and then stopped. It began to tremble like it was coughing, and she realized it was because Yosuke was inside it, trying to pull the key off. With it distracted, Nanako grabbed her weapon and then stabbed it in the face until it dissipated into the ether. The key Yosuke was holding onto also vanished, and, unsupported, the boy fell to the floor, flat on his butt.

She looked at him, and he shrugged his bare shoulders and said, "I thought we could use it as a chest key."

Nanako praised him for trying, at least. She looked across the hall to see how Yukiko and Chie were doing, and there was no sign of their enemy. According to the girls, it had been weak against fire, so a combination of flame from Konohana Sakuya and Chie's stomping feet took it out easily.

Everyone seemed to be holding up okay, despite how rusty they were, but they were all getting sweaty. Yosuke's upper body was glistening, and when he shook his head, water flew off his hair like a wet dog. Nanako raised an eyebrow in interest before catching herself and telling him to watch out, because she'd been hit by that! Her own skin was getting itchy right where the bra straps rubbed against her skin. She almost wanted to take it off and wring it out. It made her realize that they'd be dehydrated soon.

The next battle was with a masked cupid. It shot Yukiko, and Nanako didn't realize the arrow had charmed her until a razor-sharp fan flew right at her face. She barely drew her naginata up in time to block it. Yukiko went into an involuntary giggle fit when she shouted at her, which at least kept her from recovering the fan and trying again. Once Chie kicked the cupid out of the air and stomped it to death, the tittering girl recovered and was horrified at what she'd almost done. Nanako told her it was okay, she could take any punishment. Yukiko fluttered the fan at her suggestively, and everything was forgiven.

They fought several other sets of Shadows, too, and by the time they found the second floor, they were ready to collapse from the exertion.

One thing was clear: rescuing Kanji was going to take some time.

Not because they didn't want to rescue him, but because it was a bathhouse. As Nanako remembered from one she'd visited once, you weren't supposed to stay in a steam room for more than maybe 10-15 minutes at a time, and when a single fight with Shadows could take that long, the going was very slow.

It was frustrating.

Nanako was sopping wet from all the sweat—even her hair was dripping like she'd been in the shower or a rainstorm or maybe even under a waterfall—when they exited Junes. In fact, the entire team looked nothing short of a disaster. Yukiko was going to be bothered by the inn's staff for how unladylike she looked—Nanako asked Chie to go home with her just to support her. Yukiko's Persona might have an affinity with fire, but even she felt it after so much exposure. Besides that, she had been fighting alongside them, more physical exertion than she was probably used to. Yosuke had dried himself off with a towel from the changing room before putting his shirt back on, but the shirt still ended up clinging to his body because he continued to sweat from the ambient heat.

Nanako growled to herself. They didn't make enough progress and they were so tired already. She worried they wouldn't have enough time before the deadly fog set in. "Tomorrow. Can you guys handle it two days in a row?"

The three others exchanged looks. "Yeah," said Yosuke. "We just need a bath." He gave her a lopsided smile. She was surprised at his enthusiasm considering he'd been so apprehensive about entering the bathhouse. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit.

Or maybe he enjoyed fighting while topless. That was something she could get behind.

* * *

'Bath' was the only word on her mind as she headed home. She probably smelled awful. She didn't know for sure because her own nose was inured to it. But Yosuke had definitely reeked of, well, man-sweat, and Chie and Yukiko had kept their distance from each other when they'd normally walk almost hand in hand. Her hair was probably a wreck, too, but she could hide it in a ponytail.

She was still daydreaming of a nice long soak when she opened the front door.

"Nanako-chan! There you are. And just in time for dinner, too! I was trying to call you all afternoon, but your phone was out of service. Please remember to charge it tonight."

Oh, shit, her aunt was home and waitaminute... Today was Wednesday!

Detective Adachi was appraising her from his seat at the kitchen table, taking in her tired and disheveled appearance, and, perhaps, Aunt Seta's words.

"Oh... What are we having?" Nanako asked politely. Dammit, there went her bath.

"Grilled mackerel with my own broth recipe," Aunt Seta said, raising her chin with pride while she stirred a pot. "Nanako-chan, won't you tell Souji that dinner is soon? He's in his room."

"Please, uh, let me get cleaned up first," she answered weakly, and Aunt Seta nodded.

After washing herself as fast as she could manage and changing into clean clothes—a new bra, blouse, and skirt—she knocked on Souji's door in warning, put on a smile, and then pushed her way in.

Souji was... What was he doing? He was lying on his futon, staring at the ceiling. She looked and there was nothing on it. "Umm, champ, your mom wants you out there."

"Papa's not there..." he whispered without moving a muscle.

Her smile faded and she strode forward to sit by his side on the futon, though there wasn't much room for her. She pulled him up into a hug that he didn't resist. He wasn't crying, just... Damn, she was so helpless when it came to this! What could she do to cheer him up? Did he even want to be cheered up?

"I'm sorry... We're gonna have to go out there," she whispered. "Umm... I know I'm not your dad, but I'll be with you, okay?"

Souji sighed and pulled away from her to stand up. He walked out of the room without waiting for her.

The two adults were conversing at the table. "Ah, Souji, darling!" said Aunt Seta.

"Hey, Souji-kun! Been a while, huh?" Adachi smiled at him faintly and awkwardly.

"Y-yes, A-Adachi-san," the boy murmured, eyes downcast.

Nanako felt bad for both of them. Adachi was obviously trying. He even wore a navy blue tie today instead of that old red one.

"And Nanako-kun," Adachi continued.

Nanako inclined her head. "Adachi-san."

During dinner, Aunt Seta proceeded to tell Adachi about Nanako since she was new to the scene—mostly things he already knew or could guess at, like that she went to Yasogami High. Adachi took it all good-naturedly. He didn't mention that Nanako had entertained him a few weeks ago. Nanako caught his eyes in silent question, and it was apparently going to be their little secret.

"Yes, I hear her dad's a detective in Homicide, too," he remarked. "Maybe she can give me some tips from him, huh?"

"My brother is a bit... hard-boiled," Aunt Seta said with amusement. "I have a hard time talking with him, sometimes, because he's so straightforward. He's always been like that."

"And I'm not hard-boiled?" Adachi teased.

"Half-boiled, perhaps," said Aunt Seta, her mouth curling up.

"Soft-boiled," Nanako corrected with a snicker.

"Nanako!" Aunt Seta scolded, smiling despite herself.

Adachi just laughed. "You're as sharp as Souji-kun, huh?"

Oh? So Adachi knew Souji was a bright kid underneath his quiet hermit nature. Nanako filed that away for review later.

"My dad sees a monochrome world," Nanako described. "Really, the only reason he isn't black and white is because reality won't allow it. You know, one time for class I was supposed to draw my family and I colored everyone in except him. I left him as a sketch. The teachers weren't amused, but my mom was, and, you know, that's all that matters."

Adachi was sniggering. "I can name a few people at the office like that."

"Ah! Tell Nanako-chan about that new person," Aunt Seta requested.

"Ehhh." Adachi sighed in reluctance. "We haven't made enough progress on the case in over a month so the prefectural higher-ups brought in an outsider. Some cocky detective kid... Apparently a miracle worker of some sort. Well, we'll see, right?"

"Naoto Shirogane?" Nanako asked.

Adachi blinked at her. "Yeah, that's the name. The kicker is that he's not even going for the reward. 'The truth is its own reward' he said, or something, can you believe it? I'd work for free too if I came from a rich family. Actually, I probably wouldn't work at all, heh. As it is I'm working for peanuts."

Or maybe cabbage, Nanako thought to herself.

Aunt Seta began to talk about 'something amusing that happened at the office,' and in all honesty it wasn't all that amusing. What Nanako found amusing was that even Adachi seemed to be zoning out while she told the story. His face was definitely glazed. He did laugh politely by the end, though. "Some people, right?" he said.

"I just couldn't believe he'd do that," Aunt Seta said, and went to talk about other silly things that particular coworker did.

This time, though, Nanako became aware that Adachi had given up listening and his gaze was wandering. He looked at Souji, who was apparently absorbing every word his mother said, and he frowned a little. Then he looked at Nanako. He noticed Nanako looking back at him and raised an eyebrow playfully. When Aunt Seta laughed at her punch line, the two of them also laughed, sharing a completely different joke.

It was really too bad Aunt Seta was here; her presence kept Nanako from speaking with Adachi. She badly wanted some insider information on how the Detective Prince was approaching the murder case.

She considered it, and maybe... maybe she could invite Adachi over sometime. Souji wouldn't like that, but he'd have to get over his apprehension towards the detective eventually, and she'd do her best to help.

* * *

[5/19: Thursday]

After a long day of barely paying attention in class, Nanako and her squad were walking together out of the school, their ultimate goal Junes and the TV World—but they were interrupted.

"Excuse me, Dojima-san, I'd like to have a word."

Nanako hadn't even seen Naoto standing there by the school gates. He had obviously been waiting for her and had no qualms about addressing her in front of her friends. "I told you to call me... Umm..." The more-serious-than-normal look on the detective's face made her cut herself off. "Y-yeah... Uh, I mean, I'm kind of busy, but..." Wait, what was she saying? This was Naoto Shirogane! She turned to her friends. "You guys go on ahead."

"Who is that?" Yosuke asked, but Chie dragged him along and soon Nanako was alone with Naoto. Well, as alone as they could be with other students passing by. In fact, Naoto said nothing until he led her down a more deserted side road outside the school grounds.

"It seems Kanji Tatsumi has gone missing." Naoto said it neutrally, like it was a simple observation.

"I-is that so...?" Nanako said as equally neutral as she could manage.

"The police are reluctant to consider it a kidnapping, despite the evidence. It seems someone had called on the Tatsumi family at the textiles shop not long after our lunch together on Tuesday. There are signs of a struggle."

"I didn't do it!" Nanako said with a forced laugh.

Naoto didn't smile. "Do you believe that Tatsumi-kun is in the killer's clutches as we speak?"

Nanako assured him that if that was the case, Kanji couldn't be kept down for long. She scowled mostly to herself. Dammit, they had to save him. Hopefully today!

"Sedation can take out even the strongest of wills," Naoto murmured.

He was watching her far too closely! Nanako had to cut this conversation short. "Yeah... I really hope he'll be okay." There, that was simple enough and not suspicious and also a conversation-ender!

"I see," Naoto said. "Very well. Thank you for your time." The detective tipped his hat and then walked in a different direction.

Nanako slowed in her walking to think. She should've asked him for more information about the struggle in the Tatsumi residence, but Kanji needed their help now, and hopefully he'd be able to provide an even better picture of the scene. Besides, she could probably track down the detective at a later date. Or just wait for the detective to call on her again.

* * *

When she arrived at the food court, Yosuke asked her what that was about, but she waved him away and led the group into the TV World. On the way in, she noticed that Yukiko had gone without stockings today, perhaps to lessen the impact of the heat. Nanako stared for a bit, letting the girl go into the TV before her. She had nice legs.

With her mind now on such things, at the bathhouse changing room, she told Yosuke he should remove his pants. "Are you serious?" he squawked.

She pointed out how difficult they'd been for him to walk in when they became heavy with moisture. "Really, you're wearing boxers, right? I promise I won't make fun of you, even if they're Featherman themed." And she'd maybe hug him if they were Loveline themed.

He muttered with his face as red as Yukiko's sweater and then turned away from all three of them to remove his belt. He hesitated before dropping his pants, and ended up stepping out of them instead. Then he hung up the pants in one of the changing room stalls.

Boxer-briefs were apparently his underwear of choice. They were black with orange stripes. It made Nanako think of a tiger. Hmm, maybe he wasn't as boring as she'd thought.

He crossed his arms when he realized all three of them were staring at him. "Wh-what?"

Chie sighed. "We're just a little jealous that you can do that, is all."

He opened his mouth as if to protest that they could, but then thought better of it.

With that done, they continued from where they'd left off yesterday. Progress was slow, but they came upon a system that seemed to work well enough. After clearing a floor, they'd go back to the entrance and rest, mostly to breathe and cool off. Nanako had set up an ice cooler at the backlot and filled it with ice and water bottles so that they'd stay hydrated. The only problem was that it made Yosuke have to pee. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about undoing his fly every time. He did have to worry about the girls watching him, though... or at least Nanako, heh heh.

They climbed the next set of stairs and found big double doors blocking the way forward. Yes, they were at the top! Nanako called for one last break and then they were going to go in there and face it. She had a hunch that Kanji wouldn't be able to accept his Shadow on the first try. Too bad, she wanted him to get a stronger Persona like Yukiko had!

"Do you have any idea what we might find up there?" Chie asked. "I don't know anything about Kanji-kun."

"I don't think any of us know him," Yosuke said slowly. "Yukiko, you used to know him, but... he's changed, so... and you girls didn't see the Midnight Channel, so... Err... Nanako-san? I'll admit I kinda don't want to go in there."

"In middle school," said Yukiko, "he was a sweet boy. He wasn't the teacher's pet, but he was so polite and helpful. He liked to examine stuffed toys to see how they were put together. He asked me about the quality of my sweater once."

"Honestly? I don't think he's changed that much," Nanako said. "The key will be acceptance. And I'm not talking him accepting his Shadow, but I think us accepting him."

"R-right," said Chie. She took a swig from a water bottle and then crushed it much like a Persona card. "Let's do this!"

* * *

The chamber was tiled and filled with the sound of running water. Throughout the bathhouse they hadn't seen any baths; apparently they were all hiding here.

Standing before them, facing his Shadow in its fundoshi, was Kanji, looking both dazed and confused. "The hell's going on here?" he muttered.

"Oh, darling, guests!" The Shadow noticed them and strode forward. "Mmm… Ladies, did you not read the sign? 'Men only'... Oh, but there is a man, and would you look at that, he is ready to par-tay!"

The Shadow slowly looked Yosuke up and down, purring, noting in particular his boxer-briefs. Yosuke squeezed his legs together and hunched his body to make himself look small, as if he could hide in plain sight. The Shadow shook its head and clicked its tongue. "He's not our type at all."

Yosuke sagged in relief. Nanako had the feeling he had been about to run and hide behind her.

The real Kanji stared at them. "The hell are you doing here? What is that... that thing... with my face?"

"Oh, to be called a thing!" the Shadow wailed in over exaggerated disappointment. "Darling, I am you, I know all about you. How girls frighten you like no other!"

"It ain't like that!" Kanji shouted.

Nanako thought of intervening, but she decided that like Yosuke, Kanji probably needed this. Telling him he had to accept it, well... in front of all of them, it wasn't going to happen.

She signaled to the others to prepare themselves as Kanji vehemently denied his other self.

As Kanji collapsed, the Shadow drew power to itself and grew into a very muscular man with a wreath of roses around its neck. It carried two large metal Mars symbols, one in each hand. Its face even had makeup on. The symbolism… was a bit much.

Two slightly smaller—they were still taller than anyone on the team—but equally muscular monochrome man-like Shadows appeared at either side.

There was an urgent problem: Kanji had fallen right in the midst of the enemies. Nanako immediately ordered Yosuke to help her drag the boy to the sidelines and asked the girls to watch their backs. Yukiko fired up her Persona, and Chie caught one of the Shadows' attention and began to lead it away from the group.

The other Shadow focused on Nanako even as she was pulling Kanji out of danger. It was... god, it was huge and hulking and only wearing underwear, like Yosuke, and it kept stopping to flex its muscles every other step, but unlike Yosuke it actually had muscles to flex.

It was gaining on them. Nanako let go of Kanji to bring up her naginata, but before she could attack, Yosuke had rushed forward and sideswiped the Shadow, cutting at its arm with his dagger. The Shadow angrily turned and ran after him, leaving Nanako alone with Kanji.

She wouldn't be able to move Kanji on her own—he weighed too much. They were probably far enough away from the battlefield, though. She and Yosuke had managed to drag him between two of the baths.

"Ngh... The hell's going on?" Kanji mumbled. He tried to lift his head.

Apparently he wasn't unconscious! "Kanji-kun! Are you okay?"

"S...Senpai...? I can't get up," he said weakly. Probably his Shadow still running rampant was taking some of his energy. Nanako glanced over the battlefield. Her friends seemed to be holding their own for the time being.

"Kanji-kun," she said briskly. "Let's talk about you. You're confused about whether you like girls or boys, huh?"

"What... Y-you got that wrong! 'Course I like girls!"

"Do you see what's going on out there?" She lifted Kanji's head so that he could see the battlefield. Well, it was actually pretty hard to tell what was going on. Chie's Persona was swinging at one of the musclemen, Yosuke had whipped up some wind that spread rose petals from Kanji's Shadow through the air around them, and Yukiko had thrown her fan and missed and was now trying to pick it up.

Nanako pointed out the primary Shadow and told him that it had come from him.

"No friggin' way," he muttered.

"You know, Kanji-kun. It's okay to be confused. But also... it's okay to like boys!"

"I don't!" he shouted, and Nanako winced because at the same moment Yukiko was caught by one of the Mars symbols and flung into one of the baths right next to them. Hot water splashed over Nanako. Her bra was already soaked from sweat, but the warmth made it far more unpleasant.

"Listen, Kanji-kun! Because I... I like girls!" Nanako declared. "And boys, too. And everything in between! I'm not picky."

"She really isn't," Yukiko confirmed. "She's always talking about threesomes. It's quite shocking. She seems so innocent!" She pulled herself out of the bath and summoned her Persona to dry herself off with its fire.

"I seem innocent?" Nanako gave her a funny look, and then a completely different look because with the light from the fire on her... wow! And to see her hair and clothes so wet...! Nanako blinked and turned back to Kanji. "Uh, but the point is that even though other people might not like it, what matters is what you think! You told me yourself not to take crap from anyone! You gotta take your own advice."

Kanji just looked at her.

"You like boys, you like girls, you don't know what you like," Nanako went on. "It's okay. Maybe... maybe we can be friends and we'll find out together, huh?"

"Nanako has helped Chie and me," Yukiko said. "We're really grateful to her. She'll help you, too. Umm... I think they need me." She ran towards the battle and summoned her Persona to refresh Yosuke, who'd slipped on the wet floor when trying to avoid an attack.

Nanako looked, but she couldn't see Chie anymore. Yosuke had returned to his feet, but was now being ganged up on by both Kanji's Shadow and one of the musclemen. When he tried to escape, he took a punch to the gut and crumpled to the tiled floor. Kanji's Shadow began to aim the pointy end of one of the Mars symbols right at his crotch.

"Err, if you could accept that," she said, "it'd be really great...!"

"Senpai... Yeah... I think I got it." Kanji pulled himself up to his feet. "Stop it right now!" he shouted, waving his arms at the Shadows.

To Nanako's surprise—and Yosuke's good fortune—Kanji's Shadow, still in its monster form, actually stopped. "D-darling!" it squealed. "You've reconsidered?"

Kanji stomped forward to stand right before it. He glared up at it. "Yeah. Maybe I ain't certain what I want... I'm just sick as hell of being judged. Idiots always thinking I'm a gangster or some shit... I want people to like me for me."

The Shadow's expression morphed into a sweet smile. It then blew Kanji a kiss before transforming into a Persona in a flash of light. It was a large black mecha with a skeleton painted on its body. It carried a massive metal lightning bolt reminiscent of the Mars symbols.

"Take-Mikazuchi, huh... Senpai..." Kanji fell weakly to his knees.

Nanako stepped towards him, but Yosuke was already there helping him back to his feet. Huh, that was fast; she hadn't even seen Yosuke get up! "Nanako," he said, "let's get the big guy out of here."

After finding Chie—she'd been at the very far end of the chamber since that's where she had attempted to lure one of the musclemen—and ensuring Yukiko was all right, they returned to the backlot. Nanako was about to go back to the bathhouse's changing room to recover her blouse and school jacket when she saw Yosuke guide Kanji through the exit TV and then crawl through it himself. His boxer-briefs caught on the TV's frame and were nearly pulled off. Nanako gave his butt about a six and a half out of ten.

"Yosuke, you might wanna come back and get your clothes!" she called through the TV.

"Oh, crap!" His voice was muffled like it came from far away.

She scanned the sky and kept one eye on the TV stack. She'd always wanted to see from this side what it looked like when someone came through!

"B-Boss!"

"Not now, Teddie," she said, not moving a muscle. "This is important."

"But Boss!" The bear moved in front of her, waving his stubby arms and thoroughly blocking her view. "Boss! That's a really small shirt! What happened to your normal clothes?"

"Teddie, I swear to god—"

"You rescued someone, yes? I smelled him here, but now he's gone! Did I miss him? Oh, I wanted to meet Boss's new friend! I made glasses for him, just like you asked!"

"Huh? Ted? Where have you been?"

"Yosuke! Where are your clothes!?" the bear cried.

Yosuke was already through the TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, we really can't go back to the innocence we had before... 
> 
> It's part of my headcanon that Yosuke has tiger-striped boxer-briefs and wears tiger-striped pajamas at night. I don't know exactly where that idea came from, but he likes the color orange, so... heh.
> 
> And yeah, our Nanako is special. A running joke my coauthor and I have is that the primary ship is Nanako/Everyone.
> 
> Next Chapter: Suspicious Prince
> 
> Nanako visits Kanji to learn about his kidnapping. Coincidentally, so does someone else.


	14. Suspicious Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako breaks one of her own rules, and Kanji joins the team and shows off his stuff. If you know what I mean.

[5/20: Friday]

Nanako headed directly to the textiles shop after school. Apparently Kanji had skipped class, but that was normal for him. He was probably resting and trying to make sense of what had happened to him. She'd promised the others she'd explain everything to him in more detail, and they agreed she'd be the best one for the task. She was the boss, after all.

...If only Teddie could make a set of sunglasses that matched her TV World glasses. Then everyone in the real world would know she was the boss, too!

When she opened the door to Tatsumi Textiles, a bell chimed, and the elderly lady taking down a display of scarves turned towards her and welcomed her in. "Is there something in particular that you're looking for, young lady?"

"Yeah, actually. Err, but not merchandise," Nanako added when the woman's eyes lit up because she sensed a customer. "Is Kanji-kun home?"

The woman looked at her more closely now. "Oh! Are you the young lady he went to lunch with a few days ago? I saw you that day from the window. I'm so glad to see my son making friends at school. Who was the nice young man who brought him home yesterday, I wonder...?"

"You mean Yosuke?" Nanako supposed under some definition he could be called that.

"Saki-chan told me they'd been fighting a few days ago, and now they seem to be friends. Boys," she said with a mischievous smile. "Oh, did you want to see Kanji? He wasn't feeling well this morning, but I believe he's better now."

"Yeah, I need to talk to him about what he missed in class today," Nanako lied. _In private, please. And for probably an hour or two._

The woman nodded at the door behind her. "You're welcome to go in the back to see him. He's in the living room—it'll be to your right."

Nanako nodded and headed through the shoji in the back. Down the hallway and through another shoji was the living room, where Kanji was seated before a short table with a frown of concentration on his face. He was busy knitting and hadn't looked up when she'd entered.

She watched him work from the door. His movements were quick and sure; he was obviously skilled. It was hard to tell what he was making since it was in the formative stages. Most of the yarn being used was pink and green.

"What, Ma?" he grumbled without taking his eyes from his work. "I told you I'm fine."

"Uh, Kanji-kun," she said softly. "I'm not your mom."

The knitting needles froze, and Kanji looked up with wide eyes. "Sh-shit, Senpai!" He looked down at his work and then up at her again. He opened his mouth to speak and Nanako interrupted to ask what it was going to be. "Just a pot holder," he muttered. "Gonna be... a fruit design, see?" He held it up and already one could tell it was based on a watermelon.

She said it was looking cute so far and asked if there was going to be a set of other fruits. He said he was thinking about making one based on a lemon slice. Pleasantries aside, she got down to business. "Kanji-kun, before I talk to you about yesterday, I wanna know what happened here. What can you remember about that day, right after we went to lunch with Shirogane-san?"

"I've been tryin' to remember," he said. "It ain't easy. When I got home, Ma went out down the street to visit Kujikawa-san—the old lady who runs the tofu shop—and I watched the store for her. There was a knock on the delivery door, and, well, didn't think too much of it until a guy came at me with a friggin' cloth. I punched him good, but then he got me."

Nanako asked for specifics—height, build, age, etc.—but Kanji said he'd worn a mask. It was almost definitely a man, though, and smaller than Kanji, but that didn't help all that much since most people were smaller than Kanji. "And then you woke up in the bathhouse, huh?"

"Y-yeah. Senpai... was that all real? Feels like a weird dream. My body still feels heavy."

"You were definitely trapped in there for two whole days, yes. You were kidnapped on Tuesday and today's Friday. That place... We call it the TV World." She further explained the TV World and its dangers. "You remember what my friends and I were fighting, right?"

"That bastard with my face..." he growled.

"That bastard is now your Persona. It'll serve you well. And you're joining the team." Her tone brooked no dispute, not that she expected Kanji to refuse. "We're gonna catch the real bastard who killed Naoki-kun and tried to kill you, too!"

She demonstrated how one entered the TV World by sticking her hand into the television right there in the living room. It was an older model, not large enough for an entire body to fit through. She had him put his own hand in to prove that he could do it, too, and then explained Rule #1—not to tell anyone about their power or the other world.

He put his hand in and out of the screen several times, swearing in his surprise.

"I know, right?" Nanako laughed. "It's weird as all hell, man. When you're feeling better, we'll all go in together and show you the ropes. I wanna know what your Persona can do!"

Kanji agreed with poorly-muted excitement. "Hell, I'm ready now!"

They were still standing in front of the TV when the shoji opened, revealing not Kanji's mother but Naoto Shirogane. The boy detective took in the scene with analytical eyes. Fortunately neither of them had any part of their body in the TV at that exact moment, but it was a close one.

"Ah, Detective Prince!" Nanako said brightly. "You're in luck! I was just asking Kanji-kun what had happened to him."

"I have been beaten to the punch, I see," Naoto murmured, eyeing her. He took out a notepad and a pen and turned to Kanji as if Nanako wasn't even there. "Please recount exactly what occurred."

So... straightforward. Nanako almost laughed. Instead, she sat down in front of the table and watched Kanji haltingly retell the story. The detective asked more questions than she had, trying to narrow down the time of the kidnapping and extract further details about the culprit. What type of cloth had it been, how sweet the scent, what kind of mask and what color clothing had he worn...

When he had exhausted that line of questioning, Naoto asked what happened when he'd woken up.

"Err, well..." Kanji looked at Nanako for guidance because she had already drilled Rule #1 into his head. "S-Senpai, uhh, that is..."

Naoto turned his steely eyes back on Nanako. "Yes, 'Senpai.' I wonder... how you knew that Kanji-san was going to be kidnapped long before it happened."

"Huh," said Kanji thoughtfully. "Yeah, you did warn me, Senpai."

Oh, right, she hadn't gotten around to explaining the Midnight Channel to him. Nanako considered it for a moment and decided there really was no harm in Naoto knowing about it. "Shirogane-san, I haven't been completely honest with you."

"I agree," he replied. His expression hadn't changed at all, and he hadn't blinked in a while.

Gah! He was suspicious of her! She should have known that he'd figure out that she was involved somehow. "The thing is, it's not very scientific or anything," she said, "and doesn't make any sense at all, so I didn't want you to think I'm crazy. I mean, I am a little crazy," – she chuckled – "b-but this is even crazier."

"Regardless, I would appreciate it if you explained. Assuming it isn't personal intuition..." Naoto sighed. He'd probably run into witnesses claiming such ridiculous things before in his line of work.

"Have you heard about the Midnight Channel...?" She then described it to them.

"Preposterous," Naoto said when she was through. "It's not possible for televisions across the town to turn on without external input. And to show an image of someone without having been filmed—"

Nanako held out her cell phone. She'd had Yosuke forward her the picture he'd taken of Kanji's silhouette on the Midnight Channel, and this she showed them both. It was too bad there was no time or date stamp for the picture, but the point would still get across.

Naoto looked from the picture to Kanji and back again. "It does appear to be Kanji-san," he admitted begrudgingly. "And this... phenomenon," – he used the word with obvious distaste – "is how you predicted he was the next target? Do you have any proof that the previous victims had been on this... 'Midnight Channel'?"

"I saw Naoki-kun on there myself," she said, "and so did my friends at school. As for Mayumi Yamano, I was barely in town that day, but there were some students who mentioned seeing her. And Yukiko, I didn't see it myself, but my friend Chie had. It's how we knew she was missing."

Naoto contemplated this for some time. Nanako noted that he hadn't written any of it down. He was skeptical. There wasn't much she could do to prove the existence of the Midnight Channel except wait for it to rain again.

"Well then," he said. "I doubt you just happened to find Kanji-san wandering around the shopping district. In fact, witnesses say he was brought limping home yesterday evening by one Yosuke Hanamura, with whom I know you are acquainted, Dojima-san."

Aww, man. She really had lost that friendship vibe from Naoto if he'd reverted to calling her by her surname. She noted that he was still calling Kanji by his first name, though...

"It appears they'd both come from Junes," he concluded. "Kanji-san?"

"Y-yeah, err, I did wake up at Junes, I guess." Kanji looked at Nanako pleadingly.

"Junes is probably the most unlikely place the culprit would bring a victim of Kanji-san's stature to," Naoto said. "Please be frank with me instead of coming up with these outlandish excuses."

Nanako narrowed her eyes at the detective, calculating. What would he do if she didn't cooperate? She didn't want him as an enemy, far from it. They were on the same side, after all.

"'Kay," she announced, standing up. She walked stiffly over to the television. "See my hand?"

"What—"

She stuck it in the screen. In, out, in, out, in...

"Kanji was in the TV World. I went in there like this," – she pushed her arm farther in – "and got him out of there."

Naoto was staring at her open-mouthed. Then he set his face in determination and went to the TV himself. Nanako removed her arm and watched him stub his fingers against solid glass.

Nanako grabbed his hand and pushed it through. He leaped back in alarm, his face ashen. "What is going on here?" he whispered.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too. As far as I can tell, the culprit has the power, too. It's a one-way door. He puts someone in there, and then they can't get out. Well, unless they get help from someone else, like me, who can go in there and get them out. That's exactly what happened to Yukiko, too, by the way. That's right. We didn't find her wandering around by the inn. We found her in the TV World, and we knew she was in there because she'd been on the Midnight Channel."

"H... How do you...?" Naoto shook his head, clearly having difficulty wrapping his mind around it. He tentatively touched the TV again, but his hand wouldn't go through the screen.

"If someone is inside the TV World when that thick fog comes around, they die exactly the same way that Yamano and Naoki-kun died. Don't ask how it works—I really don't know. The TV World doesn't make any sort of sense. It's not a fun place or a friendly place. People don't belong there. Maybe it's the world's way of defending itself from intruders. Anyway, that's the murder weapon we're dealing with here, Shirogane-san."

Naoto had regained his composure and was scribbling away in his notebook.

"Now, about the power," Nanako continued briskly. "As far as I can tell, the power, well, it's complicated, but my understanding is that someone who's been in the TV World for an extended time will gain the power." Talking about Shadow selves would make this even more complicated, so she skipped it for now. "So my friends have it, and Kanji-kun now has it. If we can find out how the culprit got it, I think we'd be able to solve everything."

Naoto paused in his note-taking and rubbed his face. "Were you kidnapped as well, then?"

"Honestly, I haven't a damn clue how I got the power," Nanako admitted. "I didn't have it before I came to Inaba, that's for sure. And I wasn't inside the TV World for any amount of time to obtain it like everyone else did. My understanding of it is probably incomplete." Nanako thought about it further. She did have that weird dream of that foggy place with a red-tiled floor, and she knew that place was in the TV World somewhere because they'd been there that first time. Did she gain the power from a dream? She hadn't faced her Shadow at all, but there had been something in that dream.

The shoji opened and they were interrupted by Kanji's mother, who offered them refreshments and scolded Kanji for not offering any himself. "Ma, come on," Kanji complained. "We're busy here!"

The old lady smiled at them. "Will our guests be staying for dinner?"

"Ah, Tatsumi-san," said Naoto. "In fact, we are about to wrap up. But thank you for the offer."

Nanako checked the time and yeah, she should probably get home or else Souji would be eating dinner all alone.

"Well, please come over again sometime," Kanji's mother said amiably.

"Ma, geez, get outta here!" Kanji growled, and the old lady smiled at him with a small shake of her head before leaving.

When they were alone again, Naoto murmured that it was no wonder the police had made such little progress on the case.

"You believe me, right? I mean, I can take you in and show you around," Nanako offered. To get Naoto on the team, too...! What sort of dungeon would he create?

"No, no, I think... I shall focus my attention on the culprit." Naoto nodded with finality. "I have much to consider, now. Perhaps with this information I can narrow the list of suspects. Thank you for being candid with me."

Nanako thanked him in return for not wanting to commit her into an asylum, and then the detective excused himself and Nanako was alone with Kanji. She let out her breath in relief. She was rather satisfied with how this had turned out. It could have gone so poorly...

Kanji agreed. "You know, Senpai," he said, "I think it's good you told him. He ain't your average cop. 'S good to have someone in the know. He sure as hell can't tell anyone else anyway. Who'd believe him?"

"Yeah. I think he'll be able to help us on that side," she said. "You know, he's got access to police records and stuff. I'm sure he'll uncover something useful."

Yeah. Nanako might have broken Rule #1, but when did rules ever apply to her? Heh heh...

* * *

[5/21: Saturday]

Nanako fell asleep in class.

She'd always been resentful towards Saturday school and paid less attention than usual on these days, and her attention was further compromised by the fact that she hadn't slept all that well last night. She was good at not letting things get in the way of sleep, but when trying to drift off, she'd kept thinking about the culprit. Dammit, even after Kanji's information, they still knew so little about him. And Naoto, too. Had she made the right decision in telling him?

So before she knew it, her head was flat on the desk and she was snoring away.

Apparently both Chie and Yosuke had tried to rouse her, but she'd resisted until Morooka was screaming in her ear. "DOJIMA! I don't care how late you've been up talking dirty with your boy toy, but you will stay awake in this class or you will see me after it."

Nanako had flinched awake at his volume, but kept her head against the desk. She blinked muzzily at him, yawned, and then closed her eyes. "After class, then."

The classroom fell into a pregnant hush as all the students expected Morooka to explode. However, he kept his voice low, although it did quiver with outrage. "My office then. And you will be writing a five-page paper on the challenges that problematic students bring to the noble profession of teaching today."

* * *

Nanako tagged along behind Morooka while he stomped on to the faculty office. When they entered, he set her down on a stool and then ranted about, well, nothing coherent, really, until the other teachers couldn't take it anymore and left.

"Ahem," he said now that they were alone, and continued in a much more normal measure. "Dojima. You aren't the most diligent student, but even I can tell you've been less motivated than usual in the last few days. Is there something going on at home?"

Was he... worried about her? "No, sir. I'm getting along okay. I'm just really ready for the weekend, you know?" She smiled tiredly at him.

"They don't pay me enough to work Saturdays," he agreed. "But as your teacher, I'm obligated to tell you that you're obligated to tell an adult if something's going on. If you're having problems at home, you understand."

"It's nothing like that, really. We just had exams and I'm just really tired this week. That's all."

He stared at her for a moment and then told her he wasn't kidding about the five-page essay. She nodded at him without argument. "Hey, since I'm here anyway... What was that story you wanted to tell me? You had another one, right?"

"Hrrm. I might," he said, but he didn't continue.

"I want a story in which the hero was just really tired the whole time," Nanako said. "There has to be a few of them out there."

"Like 'Sleeping Beauty'?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'm not here to cater to your already overinflated ego, Dojima," he growled in his lecturing voice. "If you want a Disney movie, go watch it on your MyPhone on your own time. I'm sure you could find it on MooTube or whatever it is you kids are using to illegally watch stuff."

MooTube sounded like a bad porn site. She told him so just to see how he'd react.

"You really have no sense of propriety, do you?" He snorted anyway, so she could tell he was amused. "Since you're so tired, I'll relate a story regarding sleep, and since I want to go home, it'll be a short one. A Hindu creation myth. Ahem. In the beginning the entire universe was a vast ocean, and Vishnu slept within it, guarded by Ananta, the cosmic serpent. When Vishnu awoke, he thought of creation, and a lotus flower grew from his navel and blossomed into his servant, Brahma. Upon Vishnu's command, Brahma created the heavens, earth, and the sky, and populated the earth with all manner of creatures. Including, I suppose, us."

Nanako waited, but he didn't say any more. "That's it?"

He sucked his oversized teeth. "If you'd listened, you would've heard me say that it was a short one."

Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, and Morooka waved her the okay to answer it. She stepped out of the faculty office. It was her aunt, who asked her to pick up Souji from the daycare because she couldn't make it herself. Nanako agreed, but by the end of the call she was scowling. She'd known that Aunt Seta would eventually do this... eventually skip out on doing her job as Souji's mother. Nanako would have to give the woman a piece of her mind soon.

As she put the phone away, Morooka, who'd stepped out of the office after her, noticed her expression, and by his own expression, she could tell he wanted to remind her that he was still there if she needed to talk. Somehow that annoyed her even more, so she said an abrupt goodbye and headed to the daycare.

* * *

[5/22: Sunday]

Nanako had overheard before school yesterday about some home shopping program that was supposed to be amusing, so she decided to check it out. Tanaka's Amazing Commodities. The host was a middle-aged guy with a fake tan and an even faker smile trying to pawn a pair of shoes off on the viewer. He was showing off how strong the sole was by smashing eggs with it. Amusing for a short amount of time, yeah, mostly for the increasingly outlandish claims the guy made. The shoes could survive walking on lava!

At least the show was on Sunday so she could watch it before Loveline and Featherman with her little cousin. She'd probably never buy anything from it—wait, Tanaka had changed the product to a medical kit. It was a nice one, too, meant for earthquake survival. The one she'd brought into the TV World from Junes didn't have half of the cool things this one boasted. She hemmed and hawed for a bit and then decided to call up and buy it. She had plenty of money stored up right now since she hadn't been to the Velvet Room in a while. Besides, she'd get more allowance tonight.

After they'd watched both shows, Nanako had Souji take out the dinosaur coloring book and they colored a few more pages from it together.

She made sandwiches for their lunch, and after eating with him, made sure he was occupied before heading out for the afternoon. She'd promised Kanji they'd take him into the TV World, but she'd neglected to get his phone number, so she headed to the textiles shop. Unfortunately, he wasn't in, according to his mother, so she walked down the road to kill some time before trying again later when Saki hailed her from the front of Konishi Liquors.

"Saki-senpai!" she greeted. "You seem, umm, happy."

"I finished my chores, so now I'm free for the day. Hell yes, I'm happy," Saki said. She raised a fist into the air.

Nanako high-fived her and then asked if she'd seen Kanji.

"My, is Kanji-kun popular!" Saki said. "Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to show you this picture." She pulled out her phone, pressed a few buttons on it, and then showed her the screen.

It depicted a rather disheveled-looking Yosuke holding up an exhausted Kanji against his shoulder. It had to have been a few days ago, right after they'd saved Kanji from the TV World.

"When did Hana-chan and Kanji-kun become friends?" Saki laughed. "That's so funny!"

"Send me that picture," Nanako requested. "I want it as my wallpaper!"

After they'd exchanged contact details, Saki said, "It's so weird. You had something to do with it, didn't you? Hana-chan was asking about Kanji-kun, and now you want to see him, too. And that detective boy had been asking about him. Ugh, that detective boy bothered us yesterday."

"He did?" Nanako said. "I'll give him a piece of my mind next time I see him!"

"He asked my parents if we'd had any sudden deliveries the day Naoki... was taken from us."

Ah, Naoto had probably been attempting to further confirm the culprit using the delivery door as part of his MO. "He's... just trying to do his job."

Saki shrugged. "Anyway, Nanako, I'll let you go. I know you're trying to find Kanji-kun, but I don't want to hang around here a minute longer. I'm gonna go shopping."

"I'll come with!" Nanako volunteered. Kanji could wait until tomorrow.

They went to Okina City, but instead of shopping, Saki took her to a club. Over the loud techno music pumping through the place, Saki informed her that this was where she'd met her college boyfriend. With all that had happened, she hadn't seen him in a while and admitted that she wasn't sure she wanted to. Nanako asked her if he was cute. Saki pointed out a few of the guys in the club—not as cute as that one, but more than that other one—when a guy came up and started talking to Nanako. His black hair was spiked in the front and his grin looked far too confident.

"Baby, do you have a license?" he said. "Because you're driving me crazy!"

Nanako laughed in his face. Not at the lame pick-up line, but at his audacity. "Yeah, no. I'm just here for the music, bro."

"That's the problem with this club," Saki observed. "More boys than girls, usually. You always get attention, even if you're with a date."

At the word 'date,' Nanako moved her arm behind Saki at the counter and leaned closer to her. The boy's face blanched and he stepped away. He returned to his group of friends and whispered to them, and his friends glanced at the girls curiously. "Yeah, I think they won't bother us now," Nanako said. "Heh heh."

Since she was so close already, she had a great view of Saki's reaction. Her gray eyes widened and her mouth opened with shock. Without moving her head, she glanced around the club with worry that lasted long enough to worry Nanako. Her expression finally settled into an amused smile. "Nanako, really, you didn't have to go that far."

"I wanted to," Nanako whispered.

Saki blinked at her for a moment, and then shrugged and wrapped her own arm around Nanako's back to pull her closer. "Screw 'em all, huh?"

"Nah, not all of them," Nanako replied. "Only the hot ones."

"There aren't any hot ones."

Nanako echoed Saki's sigh. "I know. It's going to be a boring night."

"Oh, I wouldn't say boring, exactly..." Saki murmured, and Nanako grinned.

* * *

[5/23: Monday]

Surprising probably all of his teachers, Kanji didn't cut class, despite the heavy morning rain. Nanako accosted him during lunch and told him to meet up at the Junes food court after school. There were some really funny looks aimed in her direction for stopping the big guy in the hall like that, and Nanako relished them all. _Yes, that's right. I'm dangerous. I'm dangerous enough to be Kanji-kun's friend._

She informed the others, too, and they headed to Junes together after school. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, there wasn't any sign of the boy detective, Naoto, so there was no interruption on the way.

Kanji was already there, seated far away from all the other customers at the food court. Or perhaps they'd seated themselves far from him. He wasn't even trying to be intimidating today, and he smiled when he saw Nanako approach. He had a joyful-looking smile that stretched his whole face. "Heya, Senpai!"

"All right, Kanji-kun!" she replied cheerfully. She proceeded to introduce the team. "This is Chie. You probably already know Yosuke 'cause he helped you home last week, and I know you know Yukiko, so... Anyway, you're officially welcome into Nanako's DEATH Squad. Yosuke, buy him a soda. And buy me one too, will you?"

"What? Come on," Yosuke complained. "Nanako!"

She glared at him for dropping the honorific, but he misinterpreted it and stood up to presumably buy the drinks.

Heh, whipped, she thought. She turned to the others. "All right, so, you already know our goal. Uh, there's not much else to say, I guess. We're gonna find the killer and send him straight to hell, right, Chie?"

"Uh, yeah!" Chie answered. "Right to hell!"

"Right, Yukiko?"

"Yes, to hell." Yukiko giggled at how scandalous it was for her to say such a thing.

"Damn right, Senpai!" Kanji agreed.

Yosuke apparently felt generous, because he'd bought everyone drinks. After everyone was refreshed and ready, they headed into the TV World.

* * *

Kanji's Persona, Take-Mikazuchi, turned out to specialize in electricity and raw physical power. Good, now Nanako could get rid of the tentacle-brain. Well, when she finally bothered to visit the Velvet Room again, that is. She was still content with the Personas she had at the moment. Man, did she hold grudges or what?

"This is friggin' awesome," Kanji said, summoning his Persona just to look at it again.

"Well, Kanji-kun, we can't fight with only the Personas—that would be too tiring. Uh, mentally, that is. So we'll have to decide on a weapon for you." She twirled her naginata like a baton to show off her own weapon.

"Kanji's probably a bruiser," Yosuke commented. "Chie kicks, and he can punch."

Kanji looked at his fists. "I ain't a boxer. I'd rather, I dunno, hit things with something."

"Like a club?" Nanako suggested.

"Nah..."

"Like a hammer?" Yukiko tried.

"Something bigger," he said. "Like... a desk or a chair. Something that'll do some real damage."

Wordlessly, Nanako dumped everything out of the storage box she kept at the backlot and gave it to him. He swung it around a few times and seemed satisfied. She warned him it probably wouldn't last since it was plastic, after all. She told him they'd visit Daidara's later and get him properly outfitted.

With that decided, they headed on to the Bad, Bad, Bathhouse, and Nanako informed him that the place had come from his mind.

He wiped his face. "We don't gotta talk about this now, do we?"

"No," she said. "Yosuke, not a word out of you."

"I wasn't going to say anything!"

Maybe not, but the desire was plain on his face. He was burying some sort of comment. She gave him a dark look before turning back to Kanji and continuing in a friendly tone. "It's actually a rather nice place. I mean, we can come here to relax, maybe. Although I think we've kind of had enough of it for now."

"Boss!" said Teddie. "Actually, there's a beary strong Shadow deep inside there!"

"'Deep inside,' huh? Really, Teddie?" She looked at the bear, but it was obvious his comment had been innocent. "By the way, where the hell have you been? Kanji-kun needs his glasses."

"I-I've been th-thinking ab-bout myself," the bear whimpered. "Where did Teddie come from? I can't remember."

"Oh, yeah. Kanji, this is Teddie. He lives in the TV World. He's literally a walking, talking bear costume. I dunno, I don't get it either. I think it's best not to ask."

"Err, nice to meet you," said Kanji. "Huh, who made that costume? It's got some nice craftsmanship—"

"Eeep!" Teddie ran back when Kanji reached for him. "H-here, take your glasses, but keep away!"

"Tch!" Kanji accepted his glasses. They were frameless with oval lenses that were tinted so that they looked much more like sunglasses than the others Teddie had made. They made Kanji look sophisticated.

"Anyway, Teddie," Nanako said, "if you're serious about a Shadow hanging out in the baths, we'd better take care of it, or else we won't be able to use the baths ourselves! Unless Yukiko is willing to swing us a deal to use the hot springs at the inn."

"I don't think so, Nanako."

"Then in we go!"

They entered the changing room, except Teddie who couldn't stand the heat. Considering how little they'd needed him when exploring the bathhouse previously, Nanako was not sorry for the loss.

When the girls began to take off their shirts, Kanji's eyes bugged out. Then he averted his eyes. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"It's hot in there," Nanako explained while adjusting her bra. "You don't remember that we were like this when we saved you?"

Kanji didn't, but he admitted he didn't remember all that much from that day. Nanako didn't blame him. She'd want to forget, too. Actually, Yosuke should be the one who wanted to forget, heh...

In fact, Yosuke sighed when he tugged his own shirt off. "I was really hoping we wouldn't be coming back here."

"What, are you tired of being eye-candy for us?" Nanako teased. "Trust me, it's not that exciting."

"Pants on or pants off," he mused to himself.

"Off," said the girls, and his face colored splendidly.

Kanji just kind of stared, and Nanako assured him he'd understand when he went inside with them. She told him to strip, too, and he did without complaint. Was this another boy wrapped around her finger?

This boy's muscles were far more defined than Yosuke's, but he was still a bit thin when you got right down to it. She'd been expecting his whole body to be covered in tattoos, but he only had the one black skull and crossbones on his left shoulder. He wore briefs and she totally approved, although the other girls blushed and looked away. Nanako stared a bit because Morooka was right, she really had no sense of propriety.

His first battle went incredibly well: Kanji essentially bashed the crap out of the black lion Shadow until it dissolved into dust. It was pretty funny to see it squeal, or maybe Nanako was just cold-hearted. But hey, Shadows were Shadows. No mercy.

In the next few battles, she had him work on using his lightning skills so that he could get used to them and also get used to summoning his Persona in mid-fight. He had no trouble following any of her commands, and it was nice, not that the others had ever failed her so far.

By the time they reached the second floor, though, he was already tuckered out. He wasn't out of shape, just unused to fighting in this way and in the heat of the bathhouse. She called a timeout and they returned to the backlot to cool off and get some drinks. Unfortunately, she hadn't filled the cooler with ice, so the water was only room-temperature, but they all drank it down without complaint.

"Can't believe it's a bloody bathhouse," Kanji muttered after knocking back an entire water bottle in one gulp. He wiped his mouth. "I've never even been to a bathhouse."

"I've never been to a castle," Yukiko chimed in. "But I suppose it was on my mind."

"Very symbolic," Nanako agreed. "By the way, Kanji-kun, your Shadow... It had summoned two beefy guys to fight with it."

"S-so?" he growled, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Well, if you're into bara," she said, "there's this mangaka I like, I could send you a link to his work and—"

"B-bara!?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"I could send it to you, too, Yosuke," she added easily.

"What's a girl doing reading bara?" he asked, crossing his arms and pointedly ignoring her offer.

She shrugged. "What's a boy doing reading yaoi?"

"I don't read yaoi!"

"I'm not saying you do, but I'm trying to point out that just because you aren't the target audience doesn't mean you can't appreciate a genre. Like I'd bet you ten to one Yukiko likes horror, but would you really think horror movies are made primarily for her?"

"I... I guess," Yosuke said, but he didn't sound convinced.

She was about to say more when Teddie sweep-swashed his way to the group and asked, "What is 'bear-a'?"

"Please, no," Yosuke groaned.

"It's 'bar-a,' Teddie," Nanako corrected, "and it's not for cubs like you. Yeah, it's not."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, either, Senpai," said Kanji, "but you can send me anything."

"Who knew Kanji was so innocent?" Yosuke sighed. "She's going to corrupt you!"

Nanako nodded. "That's my goal. Corrupt everyone on the DEATH Squad. Except Teddie."

"But Boss! I want you to corrupt me too!" Teddie whined.

"Be careful what you wish for, Ted!" Yosuke warned.

"I wouldn't say we're corrupted, exactly," said Chie. "Just maybe—"

"But I really do enjoy horror movies!" Yukiko announced suddenly. "Especially when it involves haunted household objects. Like telephones."

"Or maybe TVs, huh?" Nanako mused. "Ah, you know, I think we've all had enough. Maybe we should call it a day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How will Naoto use this information about the TV World? A lot of problems in the game could have been resolved by the main character just sticking his hand into the TV, don't you think?
> 
> 'Send them right to hell!' is something Chie actually says in regards to the killer at some point. It was a surprise to me in playing the game to hear her so vehement!
> 
> Bara is a form of hentai that often involves muscular, hairy men. I'm telling you that here so you don't have to look it up, haha. It's also called Men's Love.
> 
> Next Chapter: Fuel for Thought
> 
> Social links, go~


	15. Fuel for Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako talks to Yukiko about her future and challenges Yosuke's opinions on sexuality. Kanji takes his anger out on a dog-faced cop. Souji opens up a little about his father. And then there's that gas station part time job...

[5/24: Tuesday]

Instead of paying attention in class, Nanako worked on the essay Morooka had assigned her. He was going to love it. Or hate it. That was always a possibility, but it was definitely a Nanako production, he wouldn't be able to deny that.

 

_Kids do not listen_

_They will eat the yellow snow_

_Knowing no better_

 

She was writing it in haiku.

Hey, he hadn't specified a word count, just a page count. She could have bent the rules and made the text size incredibly huge and the essay maybe five sentences long just to spite him, but this was way more fun.

It was too bad that her name, Nanako Dojima, was six syllables. She'd wanted to start a line with it.

 

_Kids have it rough too_

_Hard to pay attention when_

_There's no interest_

 

Really, who needed to know how to get the height of a building by the distance its shadow made? Just get a guy with a tape measure on the roof and have him drop it down. Hell, even a piece of string would do.

Not that Mrs. Nakayama was even teaching that.

 

_Sensei please tell us_

_How loveless your marriage is_

_We so wanna know_

 

The next period was world history, so she added another while kind of absently staring at the headdress Ms. Sofue wore.

 

_I am so sorry_

_I've no clue where Egypt is_

_Pharaohs still exist?_

 

She crossed it out because it didn't really fit the theme of the paper, but kept it legible in case Morooka got curious.

And since the paper was for Morooka, she was tempted to add something about teenagers being horny all the time in reminiscence of some of his rants, but thought better of it. Could get them in trouble.

 

_Boring ass lectures_

_Make me wish I was Vishnu_

_Sleeping on a snake_

 

There! Now the paper was personalized! If unprofessional... She didn't bother changing it.

Throughout the day, she came up with more and more until there were five whole pages of haiku. She ended the paper with a 'zinger.'

 

_A teacher without_

_Respect teaches not even_

_Scholarly students_

 

It was probably cheating to make the entire haiku one whole sentence like that, but she was satisfied with it anyway. It took effort to choose words of the right length, right? Hopefully Morooka would appreciate it.

* * *

[5/25: Wednesday]

"Tell me about Tokyo?"

Nanako wasn't prepared for the wistful longing on Yukiko's face. They were heading to the bookstore together, although the girl hadn't told Nanako what sort of books she was looking for. It wasn't yaoi manga because the bookstore didn't sell any. No, instead it was quite proud to offer the "Man's Life" series and Nanako wondered if she should be offended.

Regardless, the question had come out of nowhere; she'd thought everyone was done asking about her hometown by now.

"Uh, well... It's really busy," she said. "Like this street. In Tokyo it'd be half as wide and with about 30 times as many people." This area of the central shopping district only had five people on it, including the two of them, at the moment.

Yukiko's eyes unfocused as she attempted to imagine that. "I'd love to be able to get lost in a crowd."

"You're tired of living where everyone knows your name?"

She nodded. "Sometimes I feel like... I can't let my hair down without someone commenting on it."

"Rumors probably spread fast here," Nanako mused, recalling the worry on Saki's face at the club when she'd pretended they were, well, lovers. She definitely hadn't thought about what she was doing until she'd already done it. Hopefully Saki wouldn't be negatively affected by it... She shook her head. "Anyway, the city's great, but it's also kind of lonely."

"I'd still keep in contact with everyone." Yukiko nodded. "I think I'd be able to manage."

"Thinking of moving away?"

"Not until after I'm finished with school, but... I have been considering it. I'm just not sure how Chie will manage."

"You should go to college in the city. You'll do well on the entrance exams, Missy. You did get the top score in our class, after all!" Nanako had managed to do better than both Chie and Yosuke, but not by that much. She was quite jealous of Yukiko, mainly because she hadn't impressed her aunt enough to get that cash money reward. "That way you get the big city experience without it being permanent, and an education to boot!"

"My family isn't interested in my education," Yukiko said, eyes downcast. "That is, they're happy with my grades, but they don't see college in my future. They want me to take over the inn."

Nanako thought it over. Yukiko was an only child, so it made sense. Wait, she didn't want to inherit the inn? B-but the hot springs! "So they're grooming you for that, huh? You do seem forced to help out a lot."

"They needed me because my mother fell ill. She's doing much better now, but... Yes, they are preparing me for management."

"I could see you as a manager," Nanako said, "but if that's not what you want to do, then don't stand for it!"

"That's why I wanted to go to the bookstore and look up job certifications," Yukiko told her. "To find something else I might want to do instead."

They spent the afternoon coming up with several different jobs that Yukiko might be able to do. Lion tamer, Nanako joked, recalling the time Yukiko had slapped one of the lion-shaped Shadows with her fan in the TV World. Advice columnist. Hypnotist. Flamenco dancer.

If only a Persona could be summoned in the real world. Yukiko could totally be a doctor! Or, uh, what was the opposite of a fire-fighter? She knew in some areas controlled burns were done to prevent wide-scale forest fires. Or a pyrotechnician working with fireworks. Yeah, being focused on fire meant she was a pyromaniac at heart, right?

Nanako mentioned the part-time job board. For now Yukiko could probably fold envelopes in her room at night and start saving up money from it. It was an unobtrusive job; even if the envelopes were found in her room, her family couldn't complain about it. If she was allowed out at night, she could also try that tutoring gig. She had both the patience and the knowledge for it, after all.

* * *

[5/26: Thursday]

Nanako's plans to work on the piano were canceled when Yosuke offered her an after-school snack of steak croquettes. Next week, she vowed, the piano was going to get a makeover. She'd have it gleaming and everyone in band club would be begging her to officially join and maybe even become the club president and the first thing she'd do is relegate Ayane to a position that didn't involve actually playing an instrument, because really.

Anyway, it wasn't a club day, and since Nanako didn't really wanna track Ayane down for the key to the band room, steak croquettes it was.

Nanako sat at the small picnic table outside Souzai Daigaku and marveled at the fact that Yosuke was buying her food. Food without a discount, even. He complained so much when she made him buy drinks for everyone at Junes, but maybe it was different when it was on his own terms.

"I just got paid yesterday, so..." he explained when he brought the food to the table.

"You should've invited Chie instead of me," Nanako said. "She loves this stuff."

"I don't make THAT much money!" He laughed and then bit into his own skewer. They talked about the toughness of the steak and Chie's teeth before Yosuke mused, "You know, back in the city, all my friends were guys. Here, all my friends are girls."

"And Kanji-kun," she pointed out.

"Y-yeah..." he said somewhat reluctantly. "Not sure if I can call him a friend yet."

"You say that after almost carrying him out of the TV World in your underwear. If that's not a solid foundation for friendship, I don't know what is. Though... honestly, I was surprised you'd offer so quickly after that Shadow fight." Kanji's Shadow had been about to stab him where it mattered, after all!

Yosuke shrugged. "Kanji's a big guy. You had enough trouble trying to pull him out of danger on your own. I was the only one who could support his weight, and... I was sure he didn't want to be there any more than I did. After all that, I think everyone just wanted to go home and take a bath." He paused and fiddled with his headphones cord. "I'll admit I was a bit scared to, well, get close to him... But his Shadow said I wasn't his type, so I didn't think I had anything to worry about. Uh... do you think I should worry?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yosuke. Really. Do you hit on every girl you see?"

He frowned, wondering what she was getting at. "No...? I mean, not all girls are, well, umm..."

"You see what I mean? Even if Kanji-kun is gay, it doesn't mean he'll want to date you out of all the guys in the world. Yosuke, please pay attention here." She leaned forward. "If Kanji-kun is going through any sort of sexual identity crisis like his Shadow pretty much told us, well, we have to be as supportive as we can, okay? No matter what he decides in the end. What people want most out of life is acceptance, okay? No name-calling, no stupid jokes, no smirking behind his back when he says something that could be misinterpreted, okay!?"

Yosuke leaned back because she had pressed forward so far over the table that she was up in his face. He blinked rapidly at her, but she hardly noticed. "Uhh..."

"The security that your friends will be your friends no matter what, that's what he'll need. Because it's. So. Damn. Rare." She pounded her fist against the table with every word in emphasis. She panted for breath, then drew away, realizing she was attracting attention. Well, it was only the owner of Souzai Daigaku, so who cared? She continued to lean over the table. "And you, too, Yosuke!" she rallied on. "If you ever have any issues, I'll support you. Whether you like girls or boys or crossdressing or people who like to dress as animals or even ponies, I'll be your friend and defend you!"

For a long moment, she thought she'd rendered Yosuke utterly speechless, but then he asked, "Nanako, are you gay?"

She hadn't been expecting _that._ She crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Would it matter if I was?"

"I-I didn't mean that in a bad way!" he continued quickly, bringing up his hands in a defensive gesture. "But it seemed like you felt very strongly about it just now, like it was really personal to you." He didn't sound judgmental, but...

"Would it matter if I was?" she repeated.

Yosuke's eyes had lost their focus as he thought about it. Then he shrugged. "Not really. I mean, Chie and Yukiko seem really close. I've been wondering about them. It would be pretty funny if all my female friends were, well..."

"It would be pretty funny," she agreed. "But I'm not. I'm way more than gay. I like boys _and_ girls. And everything in between." She'd told Kanji that too and wondered what he thought about it.

"That's possible?"

"It totally is."

"It's a bit weird, Nanako…"

"I'm special. Just get used to it, Yosuke!" She threw him a dazzling smile, and he snorted and shook his head. With the mood lightened, she pressed on. "Now, would it matter if Kanji-kun was gay?"

"Umm... I suppose not," he admitted, "as long as he's not interested in me." He let out a nervous chuckle.

Nanako shook her head. "Yosuke. We can only be friends if you're not interested in me."

"Hey, now..." he protested. "That's not…" He paused for a long moment, looking very uncomfortable. "Yeah, okay, I get what you're saying."

He didn't seem happy about it, but Nanako was satisfied anyway. "Good," she told him.

A moment later, Yosuke's expression brightened. "But his Shadow said I wasn't his type, so..."

"That's right," she agreed. He was fixated on that, wasn't he? It bothered her, but she knew it was as good as she was going to get for now. "You probably won't have to worry about it. But you know what I expect out of you, and you're on board, right?"

"Yeah, I think I got it, 'Boss.' Hey, did you finish your drink? I'll get you another. Second Maid or what?"

She smiled at him. Yeah, if she worked on it, maybe she could turn him into the nice young man Kanji's mom thought he was.

* * *

[5/27: Friday]

Friday afternoon Nanako's DEATH Squad was assembled in the bathhouse's changing room, stripped to their underclothes and preparing for their final push. They'd made it to the top floor again, and it was time to eject the large Shadow from within the final chamber. They'd never even had a chance to use the baths.

Well, Yukiko had used the bath, heh heh, even if it was accidental. Nanako had replayed that scene in her mind more than once. Maybe if she was lucky it would happen again!

During their previous training mission, the cheap plastic box Kanji had been using as his weapon had broken spectacularly against a Shadow resembling a big rock. Before entering the TV World, then, Nanako had taken him over to Daidara's, but he hadn't been interested in any of the weapons available. Instead, he'd grabbed a metal folding chair from Junes on their way in and planned to use that. She'd given him a funny look, then shrugged. At least he could sit on it between battles.

After ensuring everyone was rehydrated and that Yosuke had relieved himself—he'd given her an unamused look when she'd asked, and she'd stuck her tongue out at him in return—they entered the final chamber.

The Shadow was one of the police-dogs they'd been fighting all along, just much, much larger in size. It was about as wide as it was tall, and it was almost twice as tall as Nanako. "I did think it was criminal that we hadn't used the baths," she muttered at the sight. "But I didn't mean that we were criminals!"

When it saw them, it immediately attacked by conjuring a block of solid ice around Yukiko. The girl screeched and fell to the ground; despite—or perhaps due to—her affinity for fire, ice and cold were her weaknesses.

"Damn cops!" Kanji growled, laying into it with the folding chair. The officer barely flinched and sent the boy flying away with a quick gust of wind.

Oh, so it wasn't just a cop—it was a magic cop.

"You don't have to be so nice, Kanji-kun. Fuck the police!" Nanako tried to slice at it with her naginata, but it raised its handcuffs like a chain whip and caught the weapon, and she had to let go before she was flung away. Well, having no weapon didn't make her defenseless. She brought out Valkyrie, which cut down at its head with dual swords.

Chie had pulled Yukiko back to her feet and was trying to get the girl to summon her Persona, but the officer again targeted her with its ice attack. It followed up by bowling Kanji over with wind again, and then shot Nanako in the chest with its gun.

It hurt like fucking hell, but didn't kill her like it would in the real world. She realized through the pain, though, that her friends' weaknesses were liabilities here. She summoned Cu Sith and had it form an ice-resistant barrier in front of Yukiko. She didn't have anything that would stop wind from hitting Kanji, however.

As if reading her thoughts, the officer sent another gust at Kanji, knocking him back again. The boy almost landed in one of the baths. Nanako was vaguely disappointed that he hadn't.

Wind whipped around the officer—Yosuke was trying to get its attention. She could see him behind the officer through the hole in its body. It ignored him, though, and tried once again to encase Yukiko in ice. The barrier flashed, absorbing most of it, and Yukiko was able to stay on her feet and summon her Persona to refresh them all somewhat.

While Nanako reached for her naginata on the floor, the officer went after Kanji with ever more wind, but Yosuke jumped in the way and blocked the attack from hitting him. Abusable, Nanako thought. Still on his feet, then, Kanji summoned his Persona, and its lightning knocked the officer flat on its back.

"I'm not in a fucking biker gang!" he screamed. He whacked the Shadow with his folding chair while simultaneously bringing out his Persona and repeating its attack. "And I never punched anyone who didn't punch me first!"

"Yeah, Kanji-kun!" Nanako joined him, bringing out Omoikane for its electricity. Man, that tentacle-brain was still useful! She continuously attacked the Shadow's legs with her naginata.

"I never broke a window," – Kanji slammed the chair into the flailing Shadow – "and I never mugged anyone! Tch! You piece of shit!"

The others on the team approached to help attack, but Kanji and Nanako together had it won. Soon enough, the Shadow crumbled into dust.

The chamber was silent save for their heavy breathing and the ever-present sound of the steam until Kanji spoke. "Cops are all the same," he growled, standing over the place the Shadow had recently occupied. "They look at me and think..."

"Yeah, they'd never know that you're actually—" Yosuke began jokingly, but then he saw Nanako's 'what did we talk about yesterday?' look and continued with, "uh, a real nice guy."

Kanji scratched his head. "Wouldn't say I'm nice, exactly, but... I just wish being different wasn't such a damn crime. Something happens in the shopping district and I'm the first person the cops call in, even when I was nowhere near the scene."

"Don't they know by now?" Chie said, a contemplative frown present on her face.

"Some of 'em do," he admitted. "But the rest... I look like a punk, so they treat me like a punk." He shrugged, his arm muscles rolling with the action.

"Appearances are totally deceiving," Nanako observed, watching those muscles closely.

"You don't look half as dangerous as you are, Nanako," Yosuke teased. "The way you swing that naginata around... No one would suspect."

"I can have Teddie call me 'Danger' instead of 'Boss,' but I'm kind of attached to 'Boss.'" She grinned. Nanako 'the Boss' Dojima. She totally needed to tell her mom that one.

"'Danger Boss,'" Yukiko suggested, and they laughed.

Before heading back, Kanji found an iron plate on the ground, and since his folding chair had been dented beyond recognition after that battle, he took it with him.

* * *

[5/28: Saturday]

It was raining, a steady, dreary drizzle. All the kids at the daycare would be indoors and watching a movie. Nanako wasn't in the mood for Disney, even if it was Sleeping Beauty. It wouldn't be that, though. That was way too old school. It would probably be Featherman since there were more boys than girls at the daycare.

She wandered down the shopping district with a purple umbrella in hand. She'd bought it from Junes a while ago since the Loveline one was definitely Souji's. In the darkness brought on by the cloudy sky, the Velvet Room door shone like a beacon. She continued to ignore its presence. She wondered if it would go away if she kept avoiding it. Truthfully, she didn't really want it to. She missed Igor and his perpetual smile. He'd never punch her (unlike that bitch). She could probably make some super awesome Personas now, what with all these social links. He'd be so impressed with her ability…

It was food for thought, anyway. Oh, she'd already reached the gas station. It was her goal today; after the victory yesterday, she was feeling brave.

It was time to take on the gas station part-time job.

She entered the convenience store and spoke with the cashier, an older gentleman, and it turned out he was the manager. She got the job without much of an interview at all. Sweet deal.

With a somewhat glazed look on his face, he told Nanako to go outside and speak with the man out there for training.

She hadn't seen him at all upon walking into the station, but there he was now, standing next to a gas pump—the same red-eyed guy she'd sent flying down with aikido on her first day in Inaba. His lip curled as she approached, and her hackles were immediately raised. "You decided to take the job," he commented.

"Well, you were kind enough to offer," she said flatly. _Get a haircut, bro._ His hair was wavy like Saki's, only gray. He looked kind of young for it to be graying, though.

"Let's get you suited up." She followed him into the convenience store and into a stockroom in the back that he unlocked with a key from the pocket of his uniform. The stockroom was dark, cramped, and packed with stacks of boxes. Her body tensed as the door slammed shut behind her, but all he did was take out another red and orange Moel gas station uniform from a box and hand it to her along with a cap hanging on the wall.

"You can change in here or in the bathroom," he said. "I'll be waiting for you outside."

She changed in the bathroom since the stockroom didn't feel safe enough. The uniform fit perfectly—too perfectly. Had he been measuring her? Sizing her up? She fussed with it in front of the bathroom mirror. She had to take her ponytail out to put the baseball cap on. With her hair down, it matched the attendant's in a way, since it was still permed.

God, what the hell had she been thinking, taking on this job? She wasn't this self-destructive, was she?

She swallowed her fear and headed back outside. The guy was leaning casually against one of the pumps. He didn't move when she returned, nor did he say anything, though he did look her up and down now that she was in the uniform.

"So, uh, how do I pump gas?" she asked in a businesslike manner. _Get your eyes off me, please._

He walked her through the steps from start to finish, although it was sort of difficult to demonstrate without a vehicle. "Don't drink out of the nozzle," he said with a chuckle.

She couldn't tell if he was trying to be funny or just condescending.

He told her about the gas station's other services. In the back was an auto shop, and the mechanic was a local. "Anyone wants an oil change or a lube job, send them in the back."

"Okay... Uhh, is it always this dead?" No one had come to the station at all and she'd been here for almost an hour now. If this kept up, she'd be back to calling it a damned ghost town.

"It's the rain. People always seem to be afraid of going out in the rain..."

He didn't seem to mind it himself. In fact, he walked straight out into the drizzle without an umbrella, held his arms out, and looked up at the sky. The clouds did not part or anything, although Nanako expected them to for some reason. Instead, the rain became noticeably heavier.

He took a deep breath. "I love the rain."

He was getting _soaked._

"Do you...?" he asked softly, barely audible above the downpour.

Nanako tried speaking for several moments but failed to make words.

"It washes away all the grime," he continued. "It makes me feel... refreshed."

He turned around to face her. His thoroughly-wet hair was now a much darker hue and stuck to his neck.

"And don't you just love the smell?" he added.

She attempted to agree with words but could only nod.

He chuckled and then finally stepped back under the gas station's awning and out of the rain. He was so drenched that a large puddle grew under him on the damp concrete.

'Do you want to get a towel?' she mouthed to herself.

He didn't notice. He put his hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm. I suppose that is it for today. You should get your pay from the manager."

"Oh, is it that time already?" She couldn't hide her relief. "Well, see ya!" She turned, intending to run into the convenience store.

"A moment, if you will," he called after her. She stopped and glanced back. He was walking towards her with his hand held out. "Hmhm... Am I allowed to shake your hand?"

Nanako paused and hunched her head close to her shoulders. "Y-yeah," she said, turning to face him. She held out her hand. "I'm Nanako."

He took it and shook it firmly. His hand was clammy and cold, probably from his time in the rain. He let go and smiled smugly at her.

"And your name?" Nanako prompted.

He blinked at the question, and then smiled again. "My name? I am Iza—yeah. Izaya. It is… a pleasure… to meet you, Nanako."

The familiarity made her skin crawl. And then a card formed in her mind. It depicted the silhouette of a man hanging upside-down. In a flash she rushed straight into the convenience store and had dry heaves in the bathroom until she calmed down.

* * *

[5/29: Sunday]

Chie called and invited Nanako on a training date. She accepted, then looked at Souji, who was sitting at the tea table and watching whatever was on after Featherman. She hated leaving him alone on Sundays. It was just too damn sad.

She put him in some shorts and a t-shirt that had a picture of a dinosaur on it—play clothes she'd bought for him. Then she made some sandwiches in the kitchen, just like last time. It was too bad she presently had no cookies.

She was in the middle of packing the sandwiches when Souji tugged at her skirt. "B-big sis... A package came for you a few days ago... I'm sorry... I forgot..."

"Huh?" She looked, and Souji opened a low cabinet and took out a large cardboard box from inside it. The label on the package had her name on it, and the box was decorated with the 'Tanaka's Amazing Commodities' logo featuring Tanaka's shit-eating grin. "Oh, it must be the medical kit!"

"Medical... kit?"

After a bit of a struggle, she had the package open. She popped open the medical kit's lid and whistled. Despite the show's cheesiness, the medical kit was as stocked as they'd advertised. It had rubbing alcohol, bandages, a sewing kit, aspirin, antiseptic, lots of gauze and cotton balls, an instruction booklet—and that was just the top layer! There was more underneath.

Such a quality product. She wondered if Tanaka did this every year, just in case a ragtag bunch of teenagers were trying to thwart evil... She shook her head. It didn't bear consideration. 

She put the medical kit in her room, planning to smuggle it into Junes and the TV World at a later date. Then she made Souji use the bathroom one last time before they headed out to the flood plain.

"Oh, it's Souji-kun!" Chie said upon seeing the boy. "Hi there!" She was bouncing from foot to foot. She wore a tight sports bra and shorts, ready for action.

"H...Hi," he said demurely.

"He's gonna train with us," Nanako declared.

Souji looked apprehensive about it. He might be at the top of his class, but that probably did not include P.E.

They started with some stretches and followed up with jumping jacks. They jogged together down the flood plain, and Nanako stayed slow so that Souji could keep up. Chie entertained herself by repeatedly jogging ahead and then jogging backwards to where they were. Yeah, she was still in way better shape than Nanako was.

By the end of the afternoon, Nanako was soaked with sweat, almost like she'd been running in the bathhouse. Souji was red-faced and wheezing, his shirt dirty and torn. She'd playfully tackled him to the ground when they'd reached their arbitrary finish line, the picnic table.

"Chie, god, how do you do it?" Nanako gasped on the grass.

"Being fit feels great!" the girl announced. "Don't you feel the adrenaline flowing through you? No one can keep me down!"

Nanako took the water bottle the girl handed out to her and downed it.

"If you keep it up," Chie added, "you'll really start to like it. The hardest part is starting! I think you should try to run in the morning before school starts. That's what I do. You can join me!"

"I'll think about it," Nanako promised, but she didn't really want to. She'd have to get up earlier! But maybe if she made Souji come, too, it wouldn't be so bad, hehe...

The little boy in question was gnawing on an empty water bottle's top. It was probably time to take him home, so she bid farewell to Chie and thanked her for the training advice.

Back at the Seta residence, Nanako dragged Souji to the bathroom and pulled his shirt off before he knew what was going on.

It was bath time!

After turning on the tub's faucet to start filling it with hot water, she made him remove the rest of his clothes, sat him down on the stool in front of the wash basin, and started scrubbing him clean. His arms and legs were visibly dirty, and she took care to get between his toes, though he complained that it tickled. Gosh, now she could see how thin and pale he was. He needed to eat more and get out more, that was for sure.

"You d-don't have to help me," he said when she started lathering shampoo into his gray hair. "I'm a big boy..."

"Souji-kun," she said briskly. "I want a bath too. You don't need help, but I want to give it. So you're gonna get it." She knew he took baths on his own, but that didn't mean it had to always be on his own.

After rinsing out his hair, she began to clean herself. When it came to the shampoo, she asked him to help out and he obediently lathered up her wavy hair. It felt great having someone else's hands on her scalp, though he tugged the hair a little too much.

"You have a lot of hair," he observed, stroking the hair down her back. "It's longer when it's wet."

"Souji-kun..." she murmured. "Do you like your haircut?"

"Mama cuts my hair for me," he said.

Yeah, that answered that question.

She helped him into the tub, and she wondered how he got in on his own since the rim was rather tall. He probably used his step stool. There wasn't a lot of room for the two of them, but it was comfortable enough. The hot water made Nanako vow to use the baths at the TV World bathhouse. They'd fought hard for the right, after all!

Since she hadn't planned ahead for the bath, she didn't have any new toys to bring in, so she had to make do with the ones Souji already had on a nearby shelf. One of them was a plastic penguin with an inner-tube, and it floated when she put it in the water. There was a rainbow-colored fish, too, but it wasn't designed to float, so she gave it to him to hold. No dinosaurs? That would have to be remedied.

They played with the toys, and Nanako tried to get Souji to talk with her.

"Sooo, Souji-kun. You like going to cram school, huh?"

He nodded without looking up from moving the fish through the water. "The teacher is really nice... I wrote a story and she put it on the wall." She asked him what the story was about, and the fish froze in the water and he stared down at it. "U-umm, well... G-Golden Week. I wrote... that big sis played with me and it was fun..."

She laughed and told him that it was really sweet of him to say. She asked him more about school and discovered that he walked to the cram school with a friend and his mother. It was a relief on two levels: that he didn't walk around town alone all the time, and that he actually had a friend. His name was Takeyoshi-kun and Souji sat next to him in class. She'd have to learn more about this boy and get to know him!

"A-and at school," he further volunteered, "umm, they liked my umbrella. Umm, your umbrella..."

"Oh, the pink one?"

"It's not pink, it's Loveline!" He pouted.

With a smile she began to sing the theme song to Magical Detective Loveline, and then he joined in and they sang together.

After they finished the last line of the song, she patted him on the head affectionately, ruffling his wet hair. When she tried to draw her hand back, though, Souji was holding it in place. "...Souji-kun?"

"P-Papa used to do that..." he murmured. "With my hair."

That gave her pause. "Oh? Is it okay if I do it?" she asked.

He moved her hand from his head and into the water, but continued to hold it. Then he nodded. "He did it every time he picked me up from school. He always used to walk me home..."

"So... you weren't home alone after school?"

"He had to go back to work after that... but sometimes he'd take me to work with him." Souji was smiling, perhaps at a memory. "The people there were nice to me... They said I look like Papa."

With his gray hair and gray eyes, he looked almost nothing like his dark-haired and dark-eyed mother, that was for sure—although his hair seemed to be darker in the back, and his small nose resembled hers to a point.

"I miss my papa," he said. He let go of her hand to pick up the fish toy again. He took it out of the water and showed it to her. "He gave me this!"

"What about... the penguin?"

He nodded. "Yeah and that. We played with them in the bath together, too, just like this. Then one time he taught me to take baths on my own. And now he's gone so he can't give me baths anymore... So now I play on my own."

He knocked the fish against the floating penguin and watched it bob up and down in the water.

"I'll play with you," she blurted. Normally she took her bath after he was done using it since she respected his privacy, but... "We can do this more often."

He smiled shyly and handed her the fish.

* * *

That night, Nanako volunteered to put Souji to bed since Aunt Seta was busy with the phone. After helping him change into his pajamas and tucking him into bed, she began to read a volume of Loveline manga to him.

"'And crime never pays,'" she read. "Isn't that right, Foxie? Don't make me hit you with my truth ray!"

At her cue, Souji took the plush fox out from under the covers. "Uh, umm, yeah," he said in a small voice. "I'll be good."

"That's right! I've got my eye on you! Okay, that's it for tonight, Sou-chan!" Nanako gently pushed the boy down to his pillow and retucked him into bed with Foxie under his arm. She turned off the light and then brushed his hair away to kiss his forehead. "Sleep well," she murmured.

"Goodnight, big sis..." the boy replied, and then he yawned.

She hugged him against the bed impulsively. "I love you," she told him.

In the darkness, she could only imagine the blush on his face. "Uh, umm... I love you, too, big sis..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Yosuke's rank 5 social link in the game, little cousin Nanako mentions she has classmates named Takeyoshi-kun (who sits next to her in class), Miwa-chan (who has a crush on Takeyoshi-kun), and Yo-chan. None of them are ever seen in game or mentioned outside of this scene. So our little Souji has at least Takeyoshi-kun as a friend. It'd just be too sad if he didn't have any friends! 
> 
> In the game, the gas station attendant's gender was ambiguous. I know the person was female in the anime. The male version is the one we're going with here. He is our Hanged Man link.
> 
> Speaking of links, here's an updated list of the social links for everyone.
> 
> Established  
> Chariot – Chie  
> Empress – Margaret  
> Fool – the DEATH Squad  
> Hanged Man – Izaya (gas station attendant)  
> Hermit – Souji  
> Hierophant – Morooka  
> Justice – Adachi  
> Magician – Yosuke  
> Moon – Saki  
> Priestess – Yukiko  
> Sun – Chisato (Nanako's mother)
> 
> Not established (yet)  
> Aeon  
> Death  
> Devil  
> Emperor  
> Fortune  
> Lovers  
> Star  
> Strength  
> Temperance  
> Tower
> 
> We still don't have any plans for Tower or Devil at this point.
> 
> Next Chapter: Boy Talk, Girl Talk, Family Talk
> 
> In that order. More social links, go~


	16. Boy Talk, Girl Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako talks manga with Kanji and later crushes one of Yosuke's dreams. The DEATH Squad girls visit the bathhouse and talk about the boys. Adachi opens up a little about his ex-partner.

[6/4: Saturday]

Nanako spent the entire week focused on the music room's piano. She brought earplugs to ignore the band when it had a club meeting, but they didn't work as well as she'd hoped. She almost asked Yosuke to borrow his headphones—he'd probably let her if she promised to keep them safe (or if she ordered him)—but she doubted they'd be much help.

On the bright side, even the club president had recognized Ayane's lack of talent and had asked her to go practice outside on her own. Cruel words, but the girl definitely needed a new hobby. Maybe she'd be interested in cooking? Then she and Yukiko could form their own club together.

In cleaning the piano, Nanako had removed the fall board and carefully cleaned out all the crap from the action: dust and hair and actual crap; apparently a mouse or two had been within the piano. Each key had received a more thorough cleaning job now, and she'd fixed most of the stuck keys. The problem had been moisture in the felt. There were still a few that wouldn't cooperate, however.

She wondered how long it was since the piano had been tuned. If it had been in the closet for over half a year, it was well overdue. That was something she couldn't do on her own; it needed a professional's attention. She might actually have to join the club to get the adviser's support in bringing in a piano tuner to the school. At the same time, the piano didn't sound out of tune yet. It might survive long enough for her to use it for the year.

"Will she make it, Doc?" Yosuke asked with an amused smile. He sometimes watched her work like this. 

"There isn't much left I can do for it," Nanako admitted. Yeah, it was probably about as good as it was going to get. She wasn't as satisfied with that realization as she'd hoped. She sighed.

"Why don't you play something," Yosuke suggested. "You've put in all this work but haven't played it!"

"I've played it a little bit."

"Testing keys isn't playing," he said matter-of-factly. "Come on, play something! It might cheer you up. You look like you've been working too hard."

She had been throwing herself full force into this project, hadn't she? The murder case wasn't going anywhere. When Adachi had visited the Seta residence on Wednesday evening, he'd mentioned that 'the shrimpy detective Shirogane' spent every day and much of every night poring over case files in the office, but hadn't reported any progress.

Nanako began to play something from memory, and then one of the keys stuck and she almost smacked the piano in frustration.

"H-hey, it's okay," Yosuke said. He moved next to her to try and comfort her. "Can you, umm, maybe play around the broken key?"

"I wish I was back home," she muttered.

"Don't say that!" he said, sounding worried. "Well, I feel that way, too, sometimes, but there's a lot of good things in Inaba, just think about it!"

"What, like steak croquettes?" she said, rolling her eyes. "Because I can't get _that_ back home." She sighed.

"W-well, there's, uh, that clean air that sometimes smells like cows," he said. "And you can get across town in less than an hour. There isn't much traffic. Not as many people, too, that's a plus when you're not feeling social. And there's, uh, us. You know, your friends!" He wore a silly, but still worried, smile.

She sighed again. "Yeah, I know. It's not the same, though. We had a very nice piano back home, and..."

"I bet you had a lot of friends in Tokyo."

She nodded, and then paused. "Well, not a lot, but I was really close with my group. Closer than I am with everyone here, actually, but that's mostly because I haven't been here all that long yet."

"Really? It's the opposite for me. I feel like I'm closer to my friends here than I was back home. I had a group of friends, but we mostly only talked as a group. Never talked to them one-on-one, you know?"

"I'm the only one you talk to one-on-one," she pointed out.

"Y-yeah, well, that's because Chie and Yukiko are inseparable," he said. "I've tried. Sometimes I can lure Chie away with steak, but then that ends up being the main topic of conversation..." He ran his fingers down his headphones cord. "Huh... Maybe I don't have as many friends as I thought."

Nanako suggested that he join a sports club. "They're hurting for members. You'll make some friends there. Basketball would be good for you. You're tall enough for it. As a bonus, it'll help you stay in shape when we're not training in the TV World."

"I don't have that much time," he began.

"Bullshit. You're talking with me right now. And I've seen you stand around in the halls after school is out with nothing to do."

"I'll think about it," he promised. He leaned against one of the music chairs after testing that it would hold his weight. "Say, Nanako, do you ever call your Tokyo friends?"

"I don't even call my parents!" she announced. "Email is the thing to do. I write one big email every week, and then I copy-paste it and personalize it with different comments for each friend before sending it off, you know?"

"It would be pretty funny if they compared emails and you got caught."

"They haven't called me out on it yet." She grinned, and he smiled back, happy to have cheered her up. "What about you? You said you only had a bunch of guy friends. You keep in touch with them?"

"Not really," he admitted. "When I left, they said they'd text me, but they never did. Out of sight, out of mind, right? I don't blame them. Well, there is one guy I text every week, and he tells me how they're all doing, so..."

"One guy, huh?" She looked at him curiously. "He gets the 'every week' treatment too, eh?"

"Sometimes twice a week," Yosuke confessed, "if something interesting happens. But it's hard when the most interesting thing is the TV World. We can't talk about that." He paused for a moment and then took his phone out. "Hey, Nanako, can I take a picture?"

"Well, I'm kind of dirty from cleaning here," she said, lips turning down in a grimace.

"You and me and the piano," he further explained. "Fixing the piano is something to talk about, right? He might like to see that."

"'A picture is worth a thousand words,'" she quoted. "Yeah, sure." She stood in front of the piano and Yosuke stood next to her with his phone out. Before he took the picture, she put her arm around him and tugged to throw him off-balance and also put on a silly face.

"Hey!" he protested, but he'd already pressed the button to take the picture. Yes, Nanako was grinning impishly in the picture with an eyebrow raised, and Yosuke was partially out of the screen. "Come on, we'll have to do it again."

"It's perfect," she declared. "Send it off!"

"Nanako—"

"Your friend has a sense of humor, right? He wouldn't be your friend otherwise! Send it off, it's perfect!"

"It definitely captures your essence," he muttered. "Fine, but I'm telling him it's your fault."

She told him to go right ahead.

* * *

[6/5: Sunday]

Chie was busy today with family obligations, so she couldn't go training. Nanako didn't ask what the obligations were. In her book, 'Family' was always a good excuse for skipping out on anything.

In fact, family was the reason Nanako wanted out of the house today: Aunt Seta was home and it seemed like she was planning to stay there all day in the living room taking conference calls. Nanako asked Souji if he wanted to go out with her, but he just looked at his mom. He wanted to stay home with her, even if she wasn't interacting with him.

Frustrated, Nanako wandered down the street and eventually found herself at the central shopping district. She hadn't spoken with Kanji in a while—and Tanaka had been trying to sell a fundoshi this morning—so she decided to find him. With his stature and the shopping district's emptiness, he was easy to spot. He was standing near Souzai Daigaku, but didn't seem to have any plans to eat. "Oh, hey Senpai," he said when she walked up to him.

"Yo, Kanji-kun. What's up?" she asked.

He rolled his shoulders in a shrug. He was wearing a tight black leather jacket that looked a bit too warm to wear in June. "Just wanted a break from my Ma," he said. "Skipped school yesterday... She was on my case about it."

"Fuck Saturday school!" Nanako agreed enthusiastically.

"G-geez, Senpai," he muttered, disconcerted. "No one'd think you'd have such a mouth on you..."

She chuckled, then pointed out that they'd already gone over how appearances could be deceiving.

"Actually, Senpai," he said after making sure no one was around to hear them. His voice was quieter than she expected out of him. "I wanted to... to... err... talk to you about that stuff you sent me."

"Oh, did you read it?" she asked innocently.

His mouth tightened. "I thought you were making fun of me. You know, my damned Shadow. Since the cover had two beefy guys on it. But... I read it, and it was pretty cute, yeah." His cheeks were pink now. Another victory!

"What was your favorite part?"

"Uh..." Kanji frowned in thought for a second and then declared, "The tears, man! Hits you right here!" He thumped his chest.

She blinked at him. In retrospect, she should have expected him to be so sensitive, but at the moment, she was surprised!

"I mean," Kanji went on, "he was crying on that motorcycle, about to head on out of there, and then, and then...! And then the guy kisses him and then they're both crying! Frickin' hell, man! I couldn't believe it!"

"Yeah! You can feel their sincerity dripping off the page!"

Kanji voiced his agreement and was silent for a moment. His euphoric expression morphed into a troubled one. "Senpai... I know it was just a story, but... can guys really fall in love with guys like that?"

"Yes, Kanji-kun," Nanako replied gently. "It happens every day."

"But it's... not normal, right?" He shifted from one foot to the other. "What if... I'm not normal?"

"Normal and abnormal are just labels, Kanji-kun. Like gay, straight, bi... Some people like to ascribe to labels, and some don't. The thing is, they're there whether we want to be labeled or not. You already know what it's like not to be normal, Kanji-kun. What's most important isn't to be 'normal' but to be happy. That's just my opinion, but I think it's worked out pretty well for me!"

"You're happy, Senpai?"

She tapped her chin. "Maybe 'happy' is the wrong word. 'Personally satisfied' is slightly more accurate. And, well, you know how some days are better than others, but what I meant was that overall you should be satisfied with yourself on your own merits, not basing it off of what society expects from you."

Kanji didn't look reassured. She told him gently that he didn't have to figure it all out in one day. They were still in high school, after all!

"Y-yeah, thanks, Senpai," he said. "I don't know what I want... Makes my head spin just trying to think about it. All I want is to help Ma with the store. Dunno about anything beyond that..."

She admitted she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, either, and mentioned that Yukiko was also having doubts. "You're not alone, Kanji-kun. I'm here for you. I'm willing to help you figure some of it out!"

"Yeah? Actually, Senpai, I..." He shifted his weight again and scratched the back of his head. "That detective..."

"Naoto Shirogane?"

"Yeah, him! I'd never seen him before in my life, and then he comes up to me and says he's interested in me. What the hell was I supposed to think? Something like that never happens to a guy like me... But he wasn't interested in me after all. It hurt, dammit."

Naoto was likely unaware of how his words had been misinterpreted. It was kind of tragic, actually. Poor Kanji. "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Kanji-kun. Let's go fishing some day, hmm? If you're free, we could even go now."

"Now? I gotta do some errands for Ma today, but... I'll go anywhere with you, Senpai!"

Nanako felt trust emanating from the boy, and then a new social link was established. Emperor...

"By the way, Kanji-kun," she said when the voice in her head was done speaking. "About that manga. There's more where that came from!"

"Y-yeah? W-well, I don't know, uhh..."

"You like what you like, Kanji-kun!" she declared. "Don't be ashamed of it! Besides, the sex was pretty good, too, right?"

"S-Senpai!" he stammered in an uncharacteristically squeaky voice.

It was an image she'd remember for a long time: Kanji blushing there in his tight leather jacket, scratching his head while thinking about Men's Love.

She'd have to pass him more of her favorites.

* * *

[6/8: Wednesday]

Nanako had noticed Yosuke poring over some sort of manual during class, but she didn't ask him about it, deciding that if he was actually buckling down to study, well, more power to him, honestly. Their next set of exams were over a month away, however, and she doubted he'd be preparing so far ahead of time.

She didn't have to wonder for too long, because after class that afternoon he handed her an identical manual and told her to check it out.

It was a study guide for the exam to obtain a motorcycle license.

"Please don't tell me you're getting a motorcycle," she said with her fingers splayed over her eyes.

"I've always wanted one!" Yosuke said with starry, Teddie-like eyes. "But no, I can only afford a scooter. You should get one, too! Take the license exam with me, Nanako!"

"No."

"Huh? I thought you'd be completely on this," he said, puzzled. "You could have your own biker gang, 'Boss.' And it'd be much faster to get across town on a scooter."

"It's dangerous, Yosuke!" she exclaimed. "How often do you crash your bike, again? I like you enough not to want to have to pull your mangled body from a pile of twisted metal, okay?"

"A scooter is completely different from a bike!"

"Yeah, it goes a hell of a lot faster! Mangled body, do I have to repeat that?"

Kanji overheard part of the argument because he'd just entered the classroom. He walked up to them. "Still talkin' about that motorcycle, huh? He went on and on about it during lunch. 'Squeeze play,' or somethin'?"

"It's not a squeeze play," Yosuke said, looking anguished. "I-I don't know what it's called! Probably doesn't even have a name."

"What are you even talking about?" Nanako asked.

"Yosuke-senpai said that when a girl sits behind you on a motorcycle—"

" _Don't tell her about that!_ " Yosuke hissed.

"Tell me, Kanji-kun," she immediately ordered. "Nevermind, I can probably guess. Boobs, right?" By the look on Yosuke's face, she was totally on target. She sighed. "Right when I was starting to think you weren't just a hormonal teenage boy, you go and remind me that you are."

"Nanako!" he whined.

"I get it," she said. "I understand that they could feel nice against your back, but ugh, you've just made sure that I'll never ride with you... Wanting to get a license just for that? It should be a bonus, not the goal!"

"I never said that was the only reason!" Yosuke defended.

"He was going on about pher... pheral... mones?" Kanji added helpfully. "An' calling it the 'up close and personal' plan."

"I think you just got busted, Yosuke," Nanako said, shaking her head. "Really, though, if you wanted a girlfriend so bad, you should've just told me."

Yosuke's eyes grew large. "Nanako, what are you saying...?"

"We'll go clubbing in Okina and we'll find someone for you," she finished with a nod. "I promised Kanji-kun the same thing."

"O-oh... Umm, okay," Yosuke said uncertainly. "Clubbing...? I've never done anything like that. It could be fun."

"You'll have fun!" she claimed. "Or maybe I'll have fun, heh heh. But anyway, look, I can't stop you from getting a license, but please think harder about this. Do your research about crash statistics and cost and value. And really, Inaba is so small that an ordinary bike is fine."

Yosuke sighed and took the study guide back from her.

"Now Kanji-kun," she proceeded in a businesslike fashion, "is there a reason you came up here? You wanna talk or something?" She almost asked if he'd read the latest manga she'd sent him, but not in front of Yosuke.

"It was just somethin' about the camping trip next week," Kanji said. "I was wondering if I could hang out with all you senpai during it. 'S not like I have friends in my own class, you know? Now that Naoki's gone, anyway... I've tried to be friendly, but the guy behind me says I'm too tall and he can't see the board, and the dude next to me is all cowering and stuff..."

Nanako told him it'd be perfectly fine—as long as he was willing to cross paths with Mr. Morooka, since he was going to be their chaperone.

"Tch, I'll manage," Kanji said. "I can't disappoint you, Senpai. I won't sock him one, even if he deserves it."

"He talks a lot of shit, yeah," Nanako admitted, "but he's not such a bad guy."

"Dude, do you even listen to him?" Yosuke snorted. "He's awful! He all but called you a slut that one time you corrected his spelling!"

"There was a 'thank you' in there," she said. "Really, if you ignore the garbage, he knows his subject pretty well. Damn, that reminds me, I gotta turn in that essay he assigned me."

"Surprised he hasn't complained at you yet for it," Yosuke remarked.

Nanako shrugged her shoulders. "He never gave me a due date. Should hand it in before the camping trip, though. Maybe tomorrow. Anyway, guys, I've gotta get going—I have plans!"

* * *

Her 'plans' involved meeting the girls, Chie and Yukiko, at the Junes food court. Well, that was only half the plan, actually. The other half...

"All right, girls, we're going into the TV!"

"Without the boys?" Chie protested. "Isn't that..."

"We'll be fiiiine," Nanako assured her. "I just wanna use the baths! I wouldn't want to use them with the boys around, would you?"

"Maybe," said Yukiko with a dreamy look.

"Yukiko!" Chie scolded, covering her mouth in surprise.

"Wow, Yukiko," said Nanako. "I mean, I could call them up if you want, but I was thinking just the three of us."

"Yes, just the three of us!" Chie declared with determination. "Let's go!"

* * *

The fog in the TV World wasn't exactly cold, nor was the walk to the bathhouse particularly long, but the heat from the steam in the bathhouse felt good, for once. It was probably because they weren't there to fight Shadows. Relaxation as a team was something that was long overdue.

They didn't strip all their clothes off in the changing room, only their jackets and shirts, just in case any Shadows had wandered into the bath chamber. Nanako had asked Teddie if he'd noticed any up there, but he couldn't tell without going inside himself, and they weren't about to let him join in their bath time, even if he had been willing to come with. So they'd brought their weapons, too, but they turned out to be completely unnecessary.

Nanako stripped first because, well, because she was Nanako. Her bra, skirt, and underwear went into a bucket near the washbasin. The faucet poured out cool water, and she cleaned herself with a sponge. Not far from her Chie and Yukiko had started to do the same. She left them alone; Chie was overprotective of the young innkeeper, that was for sure. It was cute to see her fussing over the girl, though!

Nanako was also the first to jump into the bath. "Ohoho, this is niiiice." She leaned back against the edge, then twisted to crack her back. Man, they should've done this right after they'd saved Kanji.

The other two girls joined her moments later, Chie helping Yukiko step in. Soon they were both sitting across from her in the bath and enjoying the hot water.

"Sooo," Nanako drawled. "Now that we're alone. Kanji-kun and Yosuke underwear grades! Go go go!"

"Nanako!" Chie protested. She might have blushed, but it was hard to tell through the bathhouse's steam.

"The briefs were very... traditional," Yukiko commented.

"But those tiger stripes, am I right?" Nanako laughed.

"Are we really talking about this?" Chie complained.

"Yes," said Nanako, and Yukiko nodded.

Chie looked put out.

"Come on," said Nanako. "It's not like they weren't looking at us! Yosuke for sure, and Kanji-kun out of curiosity more than anything." _And... it's not like I wasn't looking at you myself!_ Heck, she was looking at both of the girls right now... heh heh... Was this her true plan...?

"At least he wore boxer-briefs instead of normal boxers," Chie contributed begrudgingly. "Boxers are like shorts, you know? Why bother?"

"Yesss," Nanako agreed, rubbing her hands together with fanatical fervor. "I'll give Yosuke that much credit. He did give us something to look at."

"K-Kanji-kun gave us more," Yukiko said quietly, looking down to hide her embarrassment at voicing such a comment. Nanako just laughed and told her not to be ashamed.

Chie then said that neither of the boys were her type.

Yukiko hummed at that as if considering the options, and Nanako wondered if the girl was more... open and inclusive like she was. That was exciting. She'd have to find out!

"We should come here after the camping trip," Chie murmured. Her eyes were closed as she relaxed in the bath. "We're going to be sore enough, after sleeping on the rocks in a tent!"

"And after picking up all that trash at the campground." Nanako sighed. "Man, what a lame field trip that's gonna be. Learn to respect nature, what a crock."

"It's not all bad," Chie said. "We went swimming last year."

"Swimming?" Nanako perked up. "If I buy you two swimsuits, would you wear them? Trust me, I'll get ones that'll suit you. I need to get one for myself, too. I didn't pack anything like that from home."

"I wasn't actually planning on going swimming," Chie admitted. "The water was pretty cold last time, and the boys in the class kept splashing us." She splashed water over her shoulders now as if in memory.

"I was never splashed," Yukiko said with a small frown.

"But I bet you had a bunch of boys following you around like ducklings, anyway," Nanako said with a snicker. "Princess." She moved through the water until she was sitting right next to Yukiko.

"If there were, I didn't notice," Yukiko admitted freely.

"Don't worry," Nanako said. "If the boys start splashing, I'll kick their asses. All of them. At once."

Nanako slid her hand around Yukiko's back in the water. "N-Nanako!" the girl protested, but she didn't pull away.

"Just need an estimate on your size for the swimsuit," Nanako murmured, moving her hands into place on Yukiko's sides. Oh, her skin was very smooth in the water here, probably sensitive, too...

"Well, all right—h-hey! Ch-Chie!" Yukiko cried in between a sudden set of giggles. "She's t-tickling me!"

"Where is she tickling you!?" Chie demanded, moving forward.

Nanako grinned, then dived for Chie and gave her the same treatment. Chie gasped in surprise, but it wasn't long before she was fighting back and tickling Nanako as well. Yukiko laughed uproariously as she watched the two girls make waves in their tussle.

After a few minutes, Nanako called a timeout, and then all three of the girls were trying to catch their breaths while still giggling.

"I do need your measurements," Nanako said with a sheepish smile.

Oh, yes, after today... she'd almost be as close with some of her Inaba friends as she had been with her Tokyo friends.

* * *

Nanako bid farewell to the two other girls in front of the big TV in the electronics department. They were hardly out of sight when she began to make plans to bring the boys to the bathhouse. With Yukiko or without Yukiko? That was the question. She thought about it while she went shopping for some new bath toys for Souji. Having the TV World entrance at Junes was hella convenient.

She found a pack of those little sponge capsules that expanded when put in water. Oh, Souji would get a kick out of that. She could imagine his gray eyes staring intently at one while it grew in his hand. The capsule pack she picked up would, of course, become various dinosaurs. Man, now she couldn't wait for bath time.

Maybe she should bring some capsules to the bathhouse when she went again, too. She could surprise Yosuke by throwing a t-rex sponge at him. His squawk of protest was pretty easy to imagine.

Nanako stopped before leaving Junes because it was still raining outside. What a drag... and damn, it was really dark out there. It was so easy to lose track of time in the TV World, but she had a hard time believing how late it was until she checked her cellphone. She was totally late for dinner. Poor Souji...

She wasn't the only one totally late for dinner, though. Detective Adachi was standing by Junes' huge front window, looking out into the rain with a rather lost expression. Oh, wait, he'd come over to the Seta residence for dinner last week, so he probably wasn't due for a visit until next week. That seemed to be his schedule, anyway.

Still, it didn't mean she couldn't be friendly with him. "Adachi-san! Did you forget your umbrella?"

The detective blinked, his mind slowly returning to earth. "Oh, Nanako-kun," he greeted. "What are you doing out after dark? Wait, let me guess. Your aunt... she doesn't even know you're out, does she?"

"Damn right," she replied unashamedly. "She's almost always home late."

"She works at some place past Okina City, and you know how it is. Gotta stay at work 'til the boss leaves. That's how it is in office jobs. Makes me glad to work the streets, heh." Adachi didn't seem to be judgmental about it, nor was he being reproachful towards Nanako for her negative attitude.

"Speaking of working, you aren't working now, are you?" Nanako asked. She noted how loose his brown tie and collar were. Nah, he was out on the town for the evening. Oh, there was an umbrella leaning against the window behind him. It was probably his.

"I was thinking of hitting up the pub at the shopping district," he said, "but ehhh. Old Lady Shiroku always looks at me like a piece of meat..."

"Oh, god!" Nanako moaned sympathetically.

"I know, right?" He laughed.

"Hey, speaking of food, did you eat?" Nanako asked. "Why don't you come over and kill some time? I've got, well, leftovers, but..."

He blinked at her, then narrowed his eyes. "Nanako-kun... You're inviting me, a man you hardly know, over after telling me that you're going to be alone. You don't see anything wrong with this?"

"What, it's not like I'm inviting myself to your place. Though maybe I should." She scratched her chin in a playful pose of thought. "I'm kidding," she added, just in case.

"I was about to say. I'm a single guy living alone. It's not a pretty sight. You don't wanna go there."

"You should clean up or you'll never be able to invite a pretty girl over!" she said. "But I was serious about the dinner at Auntie's. You're not that much of a stranger, and I'm not home alone. Souji-kun's there. He's alone right now, actually. I should be getting back."

At the mention of Souji, Adachi began to shift uncomfortably. "Ehh, it'd be better if I didn't... If I came over every week, he'd resent me more."

"He'll never get used to you if you avoid him," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Used to me?" he repeated under his breath.

Nanako opened her umbrella and stepped towards the door. "Come on."

* * *

Souji was shocked to see Adachi over when he wasn't scheduled to visit. Nanako tried to grab him before he could run into his room, but the boy was slippery like a fish and got away. Adachi told her to let him be, though he sounded somewhat wistful.

She sat the detective down at the kitchen table and heated up some leftover takeout rice and ginger pork for both of them. He ate it with small sounds of enjoyment. "Better than what I'd have at home," he admitted. "This old lady keeps bringing me nimono, and I wasn't joking about my place being kind of... yeah."

"Not like I cook either," Nanako admitted. "That ramen a few weeks ago was just a fluke. If I had more time, I'd learn to cook, but, eh, I'm a student, you know."

"Yeah, ramen and takeout is the staple."

"And sometimes the takeout is ramen."

When they were done eating, they moved to the living room tea table. She poured him some tea, and he seemed to appreciate it. They enjoyed the hot drinks in silence for a while.

Then Adachi sighed. "This whole house feels wrong without Sachio," he confided.

"I... I never met him, but..."

He leaned back, although there was nothing to lean against. "He was a good guy. I was glad to be assigned under him when I was sent out here. Well, actually, I was kind of pissed... Hated being sent to the boonies. He helped cool my head, haha... He and Ryoko-san, yeah, they made me feel welcome."

Perhaps unconsciously, he'd taken out the lighter and was rubbing over its stylized dragon etching.

"Doesn't mean he was easy on me," he continued, "but... he was just teaching me from experience. Maybe I didn't appreciate it at the time." He flipped open the lighter's lid and then thumbed the dial. "Appreciate it now. That bastard..."

Nanako let the silence hang. It felt important that she not interrupt.

The detective heaved another sigh. "He'd invite me over for dinner every other week. It became a sort of tradition, and Ryoko-san has kept it up, and, well... She hides it well, but I think she needs the support. And Souji-kun... It can't be easy for a kid to lose his dad like that."

"Y-yeah," Nanako admitted. "I wouldn't know, but... Souji-kun's, well, I think..."

"Ryoko-san isn't giving him enough attention, right? He probably reminds her of Sachio. He looks more like his father than his mother, that's for sure. But Ryoko-san, well, I don't know if she was ever all that motherly. Doesn't strike me as the type."

"Yeah, she's not," Nanako said. She let out a long sigh of her own.

"Sachio wasn't that fatherly, either, to tell you the truth... Hate to say it, but some people shouldn't have children."

"He took baths sometimes with Souji-kun," Nanako contributed. "That's about all I know. You know, umm... I've never seen a picture of Sachio, err, Uncle Seta. There aren't any in this house."

"There isn't one at the family shrine?" Adachi pulled out his phone—not as nice as the one her dad had in Tokyo—and found a picture to show her. "Here's me and him... out drinking. Heh. Don't tell Ryoko-san!"

God, Souji did look like his dad. Sachio had short, gray hair. His eyes—also gray—seemed bright and cheerful, and his smile genuine. He had his arm around Adachi's shoulder. They'd only had a drink or two, because it seemed like they'd loosened up, but were not quite at the drunk stage. Adachi's arm was out towards the camera; he'd been the one to take the picture.

"How long ago was this?" Nanako asked.

"A month before the end. Hard to believe from that, huh?" The bitterness made his voice a croak.

"I'm-I'm sorry," Nanako whispered back. "I shouldn't have asked you about this."

Adachi waved her off. "You've an unhealthy curiosity. And I bet you don't wanna ask his only living family, huh?"

"Y-yeah... Thanks for talking to me."

 _But... what do you know about how he died?_ She knew the basic story, but Adachi had to know more as his friend—best friend? The picture implied that they'd been close enough to be drinking buddies, at least. And Aunt Seta had to know more, she'd been his wife...

"Keep an eye out for both of them, will you?" Adachi said suddenly. "You live here, and you're family. I mean, I check up on them, you know... Feel like I owe it to Sachio, but..."

She assured him that she was taking care of Souji. "He's already calling me his 'big sis,'" she reported, her chest puffing up unconsciously the same way Aunt Seta's did when she spoke of the boy.

Adachi hummed, and Nanako felt her Justice link grow stronger.

* * *

Nanako slowly opened the door to Souji's room. It was rather late, but she could tell he was awake since light flooded under the door. "Souji-kun...?" she whispered, peeking in.

He was on the floor playing with Foxie. He blinked up at her in question.

She stepped in and then sat on the floor near him. "You don't like Adachi-san."

By his sudden downcast look, he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"He's nothing to be afraid of, Souji-kun. I think... he's worried about you, somehow."

Souji stroked Foxie's fur.

"I'm worried about you, too," she continued, "do you know that?"

"Don't have to worry," he muttered. "I'm okay."

"What's wrong with Adachi-san? Is it because he used to work with your dad?"

Souji stared down at Foxie, thinking about it for some time. Then he looked up at her. "I don't know what happened to Papa. Mama won't tell me. Adachi-san wouldn't tell me either... And..." His eyes darkened, seeming extra stormy all of a sudden. "He knows."

Knows... what? What happened to Sachio? Yeah, of course he did... But it wasn't something to tell a six-year-old. Nanako couldn't fault the detective's decision not to tell Souji the details. It had to be hard to talk about. Heck, she was surprised that he'd volunteered as much as he had with her this evening. She didn't have a right to know, not really.

Maybe when you're older, Nanako thought, but no child wants to be told that. "Well, he's trying to be good to you. Do you think you can be good to him, too? For your mom? For me?"

Souji's mouth twitched, but after a long moment, he nodded.

Yeah, no Hermit link up tonight, that was for sure.

* * *

[6/9: Thursday]

After school Nanako decided she ought to turn in her haiku paper to Morooka before he assigned her another one on the importance of punctuality. When she entered the faculty office, however, she interrupted him talking with a female student with brown hair. She was a third year and Nanako did not know her name.

"Err," Nanako said, standing awkwardly in the doorway. She could return at a later time, but who knew how long they'd be?

Morooka turned his balding head and sighed at the sight of her. "Dojima. What do you want?"

"Th-the paper you assigned me, umm, I have it here." She had pulled the sheaf of papers out of her bag before coming to the office, so it was already in her hand. "I wanted to turn it in now." She waved it vaguely at him, aware that the third year girl was looking at her with tormented eyes.

She expected him to complain that it had been almost three weeks ago, but he simply told her to put it on his desk and then turned back to the other girl. "Go on. What else did he say?"

"That it's not respectable..." the girl said. "That I can do 'better' … as if there was anything better than my art!"

"I can presume that his 'settling down' is studying business, hmm?" Morooka said. "Your father is an analyst, correct?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah. And I've tried! I've tried impressing him with my best pieces, but he just doesn't understand. He doesn't see the meaning in any of it! It's my heart and soul, and he... wants to c-crush it!"

Morooka handed her a tissue, and she dabbed her eyes with it. She pulled something out of her pocket and held it out to him.

"This," she said. "I showed it to him."

The teacher gingerly accepted the item and held it up to his face. Nanako, all but forgotten during the discussion, squinted at it from her place by Morooka's desk. It seemed to be a metal bracelet of some sort. "Intricate," Morooka commented. "I see the pieces interlock."

"He threw it in the trash!"

The girl wrung her hands and wailed. Morooka handed her the entire tissue box and allowed her to cry uninterrupted. When she had recovered, he returned the bracelet and asked if she'd spoken with Daidara-san.

She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "He said he'd rather not interfere with me and my family... It's my responsibility to convince them that I want to study art. I don't think I can do that."

Morooka paused for a moment. "It's not unusual for artists to be forced to split from their families. It's a difficult road, not a decision to be made lightly. Some find freedom in being unchained from familial responsibility, but many find their dreams too lofty to support their resolve, and by the time they've changed their minds, it's too late to turn back... For now, I would suggest that you not fight with your family if you can help it. Save running away from home for your college years. Together we'll look into art colleges. Entrance exams are still several months away. Does that sound good?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Morooka," said the girl. "Thank you. I'll-I'll try not to get kicked out of my house..."

His face twisted into what was for him a wry smile. "Good. The school would object if I tried to take you in." He chuckled. "Follow the rules and keep your nose clean. It's only another year. Seems like forever to you kids, but it's only a sneeze in the grand scheme of things."

She thanked him again and then left the faculty office.

When the door was closed, he sighed heavily. "Hope she doesn't crash and burn," he muttered to himself. He turned to his desk only to find Nanako standing there. "Dojima!"

"Ah-err," she said.

"What are you still doing here?" he said gruffly. "Eavesdropping isn't a criminal offense, but if I had my way, it would be!"

"But that girl..."

"She was in my homeroom last year," he said, glaring at her. "What's so surprising about that? I've been teaching here for too damn many years! You know how little thanks I get?"

He started rambling on in the same vein of thought until she excused herself.

She walked slowly out of the school, taking the time to consider how Mr. Morooka actively worked to make the students hate him with his attitude towards them. And yet here he was, doing his best to support a student having trouble with her family. It was a dichotomy she couldn't quite understand.

Perhaps that was the point of her social link with him: to get down to the bottom of this mystery and see what made the man tick.

* * *

[6/11: Saturday]

The women's clothing department at Junes covered an entire floor, which seemed a bit overboard, honestly, but at least it resulted in a large swimwear section.

A life-size cutout of pop idol Risette in a bikini advertised, well, bikinis. A display of sun screen and sun tan oil was nearby, apparently as impulse buys, along with beach towels and beach umbrellas. Summer break was creeping up on them and Junes was quite happy to remind everyone to prepare for it.

Well, Nanako definitely wanted to buy two-piece swimsuits for her friends, but they didn't need to be name-brand. Just because she had saved a lot of money by ignoring the Velvet Room didn't mean she needed to blow it all on a skimpy piece of cloth. She ignored the Risette display and headed towards the back end of the swimwear section for the store-brand clothing.

She was systematically flipping through a rack of tops when there was a poke on her shoulder. She turned, expecting Yosuke, and found Saki smiling at her. "Oh, Senpai!" Nanako said. "You almost scared me."

"Swimsuits?" said Saki, raising an eyebrow. She was wearing the orange and white Junes part-timer's frock. Her wavy hair was tied back by a lavender ribbon. She wore a small amount of makeup, possibly because she was working. "Going to the beach?"

"Maybe!" said Nanako. "But actually, it's for the camping trip. You know my friends, right? Chie and Yukiko. I'm buying for them and myself. Wanna help?"

"Only if you buy the expensive stuff so I get praise for the sale," Saki said, but she was joking. "Let's see, Amagi likes to wear red, so this one might be nice, hmm?"

Some time later, Nanako and Saki had picked out swimsuits for both of her friends. Now she couldn't wait for that stupid camping trip just to see the girls in them! It was going to be fab. If only Saki could come along, too, but the third years weren't invited.

"And as for you," Saki said, looking her up and down. "Hmm... Try this one." She picked out a hot pink top with lacy straps.

"I like pink as much as the next girl," Nanako said, "but that one is a bit much. Maybe if the color was, you know, more subdued."

Saki pulled off a few more tops. "You need a bright color, honey. Or perhaps a fuchsia is more your style. Lemme see your eyes." She squinted into Nanako's face, and it was awkward but Nanako wasn't going to complain about the proximity. "Such dark eyes... Hmm I was hoping to find something to match them. Well, I can work with this. Here." She pulled off a bottom from the rack. It was light yellow with a little orange sun on it. The sun's rays were represented by alternating shades of orange and yellow. Saki then found the matching top. "I think yellow is your color."

Nanako considered it. People probably thought she liked yellow because she wore the school uniform's scarf in her hair all the time. She didn't hate the color or anything, so why fight it? It was a pretty cute set, anyway! "Sure."

"All right! Is there anything else I can help you with?" Saki asked in a rehearsed manner. In a quieter voice she added, "If you wanna just shop around, I can pretend I'm helping a customer."

Nanako snickered and then they wandered around the women's clothing displays just for the heck of it. They chatted about fashion and current styles, mostly making fun of it all.

Nanako was starting to get tired of holding the swimsuits, though, so she told her friend it was about time to head out. "Hey, Saki-senpai, can I... use your store discount?" she asked.

"I really shouldn't." Saki sighed. "But screw 'em. Sure, let's go."

"Normally I'd call Yosuke up," Nanako said, "but—"

"You don't want him to see your swimsuit ahead of time, huh?" The sly grin on Saki's face was something Nanako really wanted to wipe off.

"Nah, it's just he gets annoyed when I use him for a discount," Nanako explained breezily. "And you're already here, so... Actually, speaking of boys, I have some more shopping to do!"

Saki followed her to the men's clothing department, where Nanako proceeded to search through the male swimsuit section. When Saki asked what exactly she was looking for, Nanako ignored her until she found it: the most amazing piece of clothing.

A black speedo.

"This is perfect for Kanji-kun," she declared, holding it up in front of her.

"...Kanji-kun? In a speedo?" Saki gave her a very quizzical look.

"You'd be surprised," Nanako said with a sly smile of her own, "by how good he looks in briefs."

"Wait what!?"

Nanako sauntered away, goods in hand. Hopefully _that_ would stop Saki from shipping her with Yosuke!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bara manga Nanako sent Kanji is 'Abnormal' by Mentaiko. Obvious warning: it's NSFW.
> 
> We won't be having the cavalry attacks that were added in Golden. It was quite the conundrum. It would be cool if the team all had scooters, but then I'd have to write about their care and maintenance, etc. It was more hassle than they're worth. It seems more natural that Nanako, after going on about seatbelts in the very first chapter, wouldn't be keen on the scooters.
> 
> I wanted to end the chapter with the Souji scene, but the last two scenes with Morooka and Saki fit better here than in the next chapter due to the theme I'm setting up for it.
> 
> There's an NPC in the game that mentions Morooka helping a female student with some problems. I don't remember seeing it myself when I played the game, but maybe this is what happened. There is an NPC obsessed with Daidara, at least! I looked up metalwork while writing this. If you're interested, do an image search on 'Junko Mori.' She's a professional artist who's made awesome metal-based art like this unnamed NPC plans to.
> 
> By the way, I'm not necessarily going to point out when Nanako gets a rank up for a social link. If she's hanging out with a friend, you can probably assume it's going up or at least gaining points. I'll point it out only when it seems important or relevant to note.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Melancholy of Nanako Dojima
> 
> Summer brings about all sorts of changes, not all of them welcome. Or maybe, some of them _too_ welcome. Heh heh.


	17. The Melancholy of Nanako Dojima

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange mood overcomes Nanako, and she skips school.

[6/13: Monday]

It was the first day of summer, which meant it was time to bring out the summer edition of the Yasogami school uniform. That meant no more school jacket. Nanako was actually a bit bummed out about that. Now she had fewer pockets to store stuff in! Her school bag would now be full to bursting.

On the bright side—and it was a very bright one, indeed—the lack of school jackets allowed her to, well, ogle her classmates a little more. The dress shirts were tight, and some boys left the top button undone so that part of their chests were exposed. And the girls, mmm, now she could get a better gauge of bust size! And just body shape, in general. Who knew the school jackets had hidden so many gems?

Nanako fanned herself after taking inventory in class. Chie, in the desk next to her, noticed her discomfort. "Nanako, are you okay?" she asked. "You look kind of flushed."

"Heh heh..." was all Nanako said, avoiding her eyes.

"She's probably planning something," Yosuke said from his seat behind her.

Ah! She hadn't even looked at Yosuke in his summer uniform. She wasn't expecting much but—oh hello, he was wearing a v-neck undershirt with a conspicuous red collar, _damn._ She'd seen him shirtless during their forays into the TV World bathhouse to rescue Kanji, so it shouldn't mean anything, but...! That splash of color was perfect to draw attention to his collarbone. It was totally accidental, too. She was sure he hadn't planned that.

"Uh, Nanako?"

She was staring. Look somewhere else!

Yukiko!

It was vastly disappointing. Yukiko wasn't wearing anything different from her winter uniform. What the hell, that wasn't any fun! Chie, at least, had taken off her signature green athletic jacket. Well, she still had it with her, but it was wrapped around her waist. Nanako disapproved; it hid the shape of her hips. Not that she could see much with the girl sitting. Well, at least without the jacket, she could see the striped pattern of Chie's sports bra through her blouse, heh heh!

Nanako looked away and bit her thumb. Damn, she was such a bad girl. If Morooka knew...!

_Morooka knew._ He eyed her from behind the podium. "What the hell is your problem, Dojima?"

Okay, he didn't know, but he must have noticed her red face and that she was acting weird. Weirder than normal, that is. Heh heh.

Nanako excused herself to use the bathroom, but instead of heading there, she wandered down the hall and tried to think calming thoughts.

She hadn't been like this back home, had she? Inaba's fresh country air was laden with pheromones or something! Yeah, that was a nice excuse, but completely wrong. It was hormones, plain and simple. There wasn't much she could do about it, either. The problem with being attracted to pretty much everyone was, well, being attracted to pretty much everyone.

She sighed. If there was someone else like her in the school, she'd have heard about it by now. She had no one to commiserate with! No one who'd understand. And there was no way she'd talk to Morooka about this. Nor Aunt Seta. Simply imagining trying to explain her problems to either of them was making her laugh humorlessly.

The laugh turned into a whimper. She surprised herself with the sound of it, then shook her head. With renewed purpose, she hustled down the stairs and to her shoe locker, exchanged her indoor shoes for her outdoor ones, and headed out of the school. She needed some time alone for a bit.

Skipping class, wow, that wasn't something she'd done in a while, and never before here in Inaba. Unsure of what to do now that she was outside the school grounds, she headed towards the familiar Samegawa flood plain and hoped she wouldn't run into anyone on the way. The town was a fairly sleepy one, and the morning fog had yet to burn off. There was no one around—well, except an old lady by the river wearing black mourning garb. Nanako avoided her and headed to the picnic table.

Sitting on the rough wooden bench, she stared off into the fog for some moments, and then took out her phone and slowly went through the emails and texts she had received over the last few months from her friends in Tokyo. They all said that they missed her, and she'd told them the same, but electronic communication was so impersonal. She wanted to talk to one of them, have a heart-to-heart. Of course, they'd all be in school right now, so she couldn't call any of them.

Well, there was _someone_ she could call, someone who would understand her. What time was it right now in Canada? She used her phone's time and date function to find out, and yeah, she could be awake now. It was worth a try, anyway!

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, but then went to voice mail. "M-Mom," she told it evenly. "Please call back when you can."

She carefully closed her phone and set it down on the picnic table, then buried her face in her arms. D-dammit, why was she crying? She was Nanako, she was strong, she was The Boss—but she also really, really missed her home, and her mom, and her dad...

She hadn't emailed her dad at all after his response to the playful one she'd sent about eloping with Naoto Shirogane. And her mom, well, she had an agent who took care of all that for her, which meant any emails sent to her weren't very private.

She could call her dad, but he'd be at work and maybe busy, or maybe he'd think she was calling because something was wrong and then she'd waste his time for nothing. He was a good dad, really, always tried to be there for her, but taking personal calls during work hours was frowned upon. Besides, Father's Day was next Sunday, so she'd call then.

She traced random patterns on the table's surface with her fingers, and then a Beethoven piece began to play from her phone. Never had she found the melody so soothing. She almost let it play too long before picking up the phone. "Mom?"

"Nanako-chan! How are you, honey?" Despite the distance, her mom's voice came through loud and clear, although tinny from the phone. "Isn't it Monday over there? Monday morning... what time?"

"Ten in the morning," Nanako replied quietly.

"It's not a holiday... Did something happen at the school? There wasn't another murder, was there...? Honey, are you all right?" Chisato sounded more and more worried as she spoke.

"No, nothing happened, Mom," Nanako quickly assured her. "I'm skipping school because... I'm not sick, but I'm not feeling well, y'know?"

"What's the matter, honey?" She sounded sympathetic, and Nanako knew her—the emotion was true.

"M-Mom, I miss you, and everyone back home," Nanako said, swallowing hard. "I'm... I'm homesick, I guess. Sometimes it's just not enough that you're only a phone call away, y'know? I want... I wish you were here!"

"Do you want a hug?" Still sympathetic, but with a hint of teasing. Yep, this was her mom all right, if there had been any doubt.

"Yes!" Nanako growled. "No, I want more than a hug! Well, not from you, but... Mom, I just... You're too far away! You and Dad!"

"Your summer break is coming up, honey," her mother reminded her gently. "I'm sure your father would love to see you then. I won't be there, but you can reconnect with all your friends, I'm sure. I know you'll have a great time."

"Yeah... but that's not gonna help me _now,_ is it?" Nanako said bitterly. "I'm feeling... anxious, Mom, I dunno..."

"What about your little friends there, honey? You said you'd made some? The fusuma kicker and the others. They're probably missing you in class right now."

"They're... part of the problem, Mom." Nanako paused, deciding how to continue. "Look, Mom, I was fine before I went to school this morning, but I saw everyone in their summer uniforms, and... I... I liked what I saw! Too much!" She shouted the admission, then sniffled. She'd told Kanji her thoughts on what it meant to be 'normal,' but in truth, she had so many doubts of her own.

"Honey, honey," Chisato soothed. "What's wrong with that?"

"Well, I couldn't really concentrate and... It felt like the room was too warm. And, and people noticed!"

Chisato laughed and told her to be glad she wasn't a boy—then her problem would have been far more obvious.

"Moooom!" Nanako protested, but it made her smile anyway, if only for a moment.

"Really, honey, I don't see the problem," Chisato said. "You're attracted to your friends. I was attracted to more than one of mine when I was your age. It was awkward, yes, especially when I started dating one of them, but I managed just fine."

"Men, women, and everything in between?" Nanako queried. "I don't want to date any of them, Mom! But I wanna have fun with all of them! And I don't think... I don't know if they're gonna go for it. They're different. We're close, but... I've seen half of them naked, and the rest half-naked," – and whoa, she was getting herself hot and bothered again, and she was talking to her mom! – "b-but... we're just friends, y'know? They don't really know me."

"I'm not sure I understand. You can talk to them, right? You've only had two months, yes, but I'm sure they know you preeetty well, honey. You wouldn't be friends, otherwise!"

"No, Mom," Nanako said sadly. "No, they really don't. No one really knows me. Whenever I say something outrageous, it's just Nanako being Nanako, y'know?"

"I know," her mother replied.

"But it's how I really feel. And they don't know that. Because when I tell them I wasn't joking, they think it's just another joke. I can only believe that it's because they want it to be a joke. Because, y'know, if I wasn't joking, I'd... I'd just be..."

"You'd still be Nanako, honey."

"I'd just be a pervert," she announced. "And, damn, they wouldn't be wrong, but that's just how I am. Should I... should I try to make them accept that? It's embarrassing."

"Everyone's a pervert, honey," her mom told her. "You're just one with no shame. Remember the time you sneaked into the boy's locker room in middle school?"

No shame... but if she had no shame, Nanako wouldn't be bothered by this at all, would she? And, ugh, why was Mom bringing _that_ up!?

Her mom giggled. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for the teacher who caught you. I remember getting that call so vividly. Oh, my, dear..."

"Okay, Mom, I think I'm gonna cut you off there," Nanako said, aggravated. "Thanks anyway. Hope your tour is going well."

"Nanako!" Chisato chided. "Really, it would have been fine if you hadn't pulled the same stunt the following day!"

"Yeah, bye!"

Nanako hung up and scowled at the phone. So much for Mom making her feel better!

After staring at the phone for over a minute, she let out her breath in a long sigh. She should get back to class. Morooka might be worrying about her. In the worst-case scenario, he'd sent someone to look for her, someone who'd never find her. Well, Chie or Yukiko or Yosuke should have texted her if that happened, and her phone hadn't buzzed at all. It probably would at the lunch break, though. Yeah, Yosuke might be panicking at her absence. The thought was strangely comforting.

The wind picked up a little, blowing through her hair.

She didn't want to go back.

She started to walk down the flood plain, no clear goal in her mind. Maybe she'd visit Daidara's. Not that they'd gone into the TV recently. She'd checked in with Teddie and there was really nothing going on there. There was nothing left to do. They'd fully explored the bathhouse, the castle, and the shopping district areas, and Teddie refused to help them go off into the mist to search for other areas. Too dangerous—according to him, there were places where the fog was so thick that even his special glasses wouldn't help.

A large drop of water landed on her head. Crap, it was starting to rain. And her umbrella was still in class, learning about cosines and tangents without her.

By now she'd arrived at the southern end of the shopping district, so she could escape the rain by entering the Velvet Room, but she suspected time didn't actually flow in there, and really, fuck the Velvet Room. She was not in the mood for the sneer she knew would be plastered on Margaret's face the moment she finally walked back in there.

Working mostly on automatic, she headed to the nearest shelter: the Moel gas station. Not a soul was around. Damn ghost town. She leaned against one of the gas pumps and then slowly dropped down until she was sitting on the concrete, then wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged them close.

She shivered. The day was humid and warm, but the rain was cool. If only she had her school jacket!

"So you don't like the rain..." said a mildly disappointed voice from behind the gas pump.

Nanako stiffened. Izaya...!

The man in the gas station uniform stepped out from the shadow cast by the gas pump she'd chosen to rest against. "Or has something else depressed you?"

Nanako cleared her throat. "The rain's okay," she croaked. "I just... I'm having a bad day, okay?"

"How bad is it that you'd come here?" Izaya seemed interested, for some reason. Nanako definitely didn't want to tell him. "I'd gladly trade my problems for yours."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just a high schooler," she said tiredly. "None of my problems are gonna last in the grand scheme of things. I know, I know." _I've heard it all before, Grandpa._

"Your problems are important to you now, and some will last..." he said, pausing thoughtfully. "Some will last forever."

Nanako shuddered, because he was right in the fact that her sexuality was something that likely wouldn't change. "Y-yeah," she said. "I think I'll have to learn to live with it, even when it frustrates me."

"Learning to live? Sounds like that should come naturally." Izaya chuckled.

"It's just a figure of speech," she said. "But... I'm different from other people. I always have been. It's annoying. I like being me but sometimes I think of how much easier it would be if I was someone else completely. If I didn't have to have all these feelings and desires and shit."

Izaya tilted his head. "Being someone else? Hmhm. What's that saying? The grass is always greener..."

"On the other side, yeah..."

"...after a rain," Izaya corrected, his lips turning up in an amused smile. "You might need a moment to let yourself go. What do you say?" He stepped towards the drizzle outside the awning.

"Huh?"

He glanced at her sidelong. "Join me in the rain."

"You're weird, Izaya-san."

His creepy smile didn't waver, and he didn't answer.

Nanako sighed. "Fine, but it'll only make me miserable and wet instead of just miserable."

He chuckled and walked out into the street. She followed him, feeling foolish.

The rain was light, the drops soft on her skin. She lifted her face to the sky and let it wash over her. Izaya looked on with something akin to approval, but she ignored him. She took the scarf out of her hair and shook her hair out. It wasn't soaked yet, but she felt the water seeping into it.

Mirroring her action, Izaya took off his hat. His wavy hair was almost as long as hers.

"They say this year will have less rain than last year," he remarked.

Sucks to be you, she thought, you rain-ophile.

"They also say we'll have more fog," Izaya went on. "I wonder why that is. You'd think there'd be less fog when there is less rain."

"Yeah, that is pretty weird," Nanako agreed. "There's a meteorologist-in-training at school. Maybe I'll ask her about it."

She shivered because the cold was starting to seep in. Still, it wasn't an unpleasant sensation, so she remained in the rain.

Then the rain stopped. Izaya looked so depressed about it that it made her smile. He reminded her of Souji in some inexplicable way. Probably the gray hair, or maybe the childish personality. With that thought, he didn't seem quite as creepy as he had before.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. "Did the rain help?"

"Yeah, actually," she admitted. She felt quite a bit refreshed. "I should probably go get some dry clothes, though. Before I catch a cold or something. You too, actually."

"Oh, don't worry about me." Izaya snickered and then it turned into a full laugh. Nanako wasn't sure what had amused him, so she shrugged and bid him a good day and headed home.

It was strange to come home to an empty house. Souji would still be at elementary school for several hours, and he often had cram school after that. It wasn't even lunch time.

Nanako took a long, hot bath. She'd almost gone to Junes and the bathhouse, but Rule #2 was still in effect, after all. The soak was nice, just what she needed after that cold rain. She took down Souji's penguin toy and idly watched it float around.

She was still in the tub when her cell phone rang. She'd kept it on the shelf nearby. She had to be extra careful not to drop it in the water, so she dried her hands off with a small towel before handling it and putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Nanako?" It was Yosuke. "Man, what are you doing?"

"Oh, you know me. I'm just chilling." She shifted in the water, aware that she'd already started to put on her 'everything is okay' act.

"'Just chilling'?" he repeated. "I can't believe you sometimes. King Moron had a field day ranting about you. Anyway, when are you coming back? You left your stuff!"

Nanako checked the time. Yeah, it was their lunch break. She had plenty of time before school let out. But if she went back, she'd probably get detention. Detention she deserved, she readily admitted, but if she skipped the whole day, she wouldn't have to deal with any teachers giving her lip. She'd already skipped half the day, what point was there in going back?

Besides, her stuff wasn't that important. "Could you... take my stuff home with you?" she asked, poking at the penguin toy with her free hand and watching it bob. "Or give it to Chie. Honestly, I don't care. And just bring it back tomorrow. I don't even care if you go through it all, Yosuke. Nothing suuuuper important is in there."

But he might find something interesting. It would be pretty funny if he found her emergency stash of tampons. She could imagine him jumping away and squealing like he'd suddenly seen a spider. Oh, but how would he react if he found one of her condoms?

Heh heh.

"Yeah, go ahead and go through allll my stuff," she told him playfully.

"Err..." he said. She cut him off by hanging up, just as she'd done with her mom.

When she got out of the tub and changed into fresh clothes—screw the school uniform, by this point she wasn't going back—she found Aunt Seta waiting for her at the table in the kitchen.

_Oh shit._

"Uh," she said smartly.

"Nanako-chan, please, have a seat." Aunt Seta patted the table, and Nanako took the seat kitty-corner to her. Apparently the woman was eating her lunch, a commercially-packaged bento box. There were always a few of them in the refrigerator. And Aunt Seta apparently had nothing to say, since she totally turned back to eating after Nanako sat down.

She soon noticed that her aunt was a bit disheveled. Her dark brown hair, normally neatly tied back, was loose about her shoulders, the clip sitting conspicuously on the table. Nanako was reminded of how she'd looked on Mother's Day, exhausted from her trip. It was only a Monday—Aunt Seta should have been rested from the weekend. She'd even been home most of Sunday. But there were definitely bags under the woman's eyes that her makeup couldn't hide.

Aunt Seta was also sitting with her back ramrod straight, keeping her arms close to her body.

You're just eating, relax, Nanako thought.

When Aunt Seta blinked at her and then said, "You're right," with a soft smile, she realized she'd said it out loud. But at least the woman allowed her shoulders to sag.

Nanako relaxed a little, too. And watching her aunt eat made her hungry... so she broke the silence once again to ask if she could eat something.

Aunt Seta told her, "Of course..."

Huh, even her voice sounded drained.

Nanako heated up a bento box of her own, since the one she'd brought to school this morning was, well, still at school. Her hunger took over her nervousness at the situation and she ate with gusto.

When they were finished, Aunt Seta took the empty cartons and threw them in the trash with a sigh. Then she returned to the table and spread her hands along it. "Nanako-chan," she said quietly. "I didn't expect today for the school to call me and tell me that you were missing."

Nanako looked down at the table. She couldn't bring herself to apologize.

"I'm glad you're safe," Aunt Seta said, letting out her breath at once. "But what happened? If you'll tell me, that is."

"I-I'd rather not," Nanako murmured.

Aunt Seta bit her lower lip, obviously disappointed, but she didn't comment.

"D-did you leave work because of me?" Nanako asked, her own voice strained. W-was she the reason the woman was so exhausted-looking?

Aunt Seta shook her head. "Yes and no. I needed a break, too. Honestly, it's starting to get to me."

"Yeah? You don't seem to have much time to yourself," Nanako remarked. "That's for sure."

"I'm thinking of taking a vacation soon," Aunt Seta admitted with a self-indulgent smile. "I have quite a bit of time saved up now."

"You deserve one," Nanako agreed. "Maybe over summer, when Souji-kun is out of school. He'd love to spend more time with you, I know that."

"He's such a darling, isn't he?" Aunt Seta had on that proud look that she always had when talking about her son.

"I love him a lot," Nanako said with complete honesty.

"I'm glad you're getting along with him. He seems to look up to you... I noticed that he even calls you 'big sis.'"

Nanako now understood her aunt's pride, because hearing that made her feel warm inside.

"You are going back to school tomorrow, my dear," Aunt Seta told her. "Skipping once in a while is fine, but don't make a habit it of it."

"Y-yeah. Of course." It was surprising how understanding her aunt was about this, though... Was there more to her than met the eye, perhaps?

Aunt Seta invited her to watch bad daytime television with her, and Nanako was surprised to find herself enjoying the woman's company. Instead of blankly watching the shows, Aunt Seta talked about them and even made a few jokes about how ridiculous the plots were. Nanako had a good time.

But what was most rewarding was seeing Souji's face when he came home from school and realized his mom was there. He eagerly joined Nanako at the tea table, and Aunt Seta pulled him close until he was sitting between her knees at the couch, the most affection towards him that Nanako had ever seen from the woman. It cheered her up like nothing else.

* * *

It was hard to get out of bed the next morning. Nanako wasn't looking forward to a new day. Another day. A day of school and facing what she'd been avoiding yesterday. Morooka was going to chew her out in the middle of class. Or maybe not; they weren't scheduled for philosophy today, but she would still have to endure homeroom with him.

"Big... sis?"

Dammit, Souji had noticed her scowling over her eggs. She softened her expression and asked what was up.

"It's cloudy out," he said, "but you don't have an umbrella."

She admitted that she'd left it at school yesterday. "I'll be fine. It's not raining right now. I can probably make it to school."

"My school is closer," he murmured.

It took her a moment to realize that he meant that she could have the Loveline umbrella back. She shook her head. "It's yours, honey. I'm strong. A little water won't hurt me!"

He wasn't convinced. "You got sick before," he said. "We don't have any more medicine..."

She gave him a hug. "I'll pick some up on the way home, okay?"

He seemed appeased, but he kept looking up at her with mild concern the entire way to school. It didn't improve her mood in the least.

* * *

Nanako took her seat at her desk and tried not to let out the sigh she'd been holding in. Everyone was still wearing their summer clothes! She wished she could just get used to it already. She'd tried biting her tongue to control the thoughts, but all it did was give her, well, a bitten tongue. If she managed to stay here the whole day, she'd probably be fine. She didn't really want to stick it out, though. She was sorely tempted to skip again.

"Nanako, umm, here's your stuff from yesterday." Yosuke carefully set the book bag on her desk.

"Thanks," she said without enthusiasm, trying desperately not to notice that he was still wearing his dress shirt in a way that revealed his collarbone. Then she brightened for a moment. "Did you look through my stuff?"

"No? I'm not sure what sort of guy you think I am, but..."

"Come on, Chie would have totally looked through it," Nanako claimed.

"Excuse me?" said the girl in question.

"Ah, fuck it," said Nanako with an overbearing sigh. "It was just a dumb joke."

"I'll say," said Yosuke. "But what happened yesterday, anyway? You really had us all worried."

"Yeah!" Chie exclaimed. "King Moron kept giving me the evil eye! Like it's my fault you left!"

"It was your fault," Nanako muttered sullenly to herself. "Everyone's fault." Louder, she said, "Don't worry about me, really. I was just having an off day. It happens sometimes, y'know?"

Her friends didn't get a chance to answer because Morooka opened the door and stepped in. He immediately stared at Nanako, but, to her relief, he didn't say anything. His eyes held concern rather than the anger and outrage she'd been expecting.

It was too difficult for her to look back at him, so... she didn't. She looked down at her desk instead. I'm okay, she told herself, but she really wasn't. This melancholy. She really needed to beat it. The camping trip was soon! Thinking of the possibilities it would bring failed to cheer her up in any way.

* * *

When school let out, she made a flimsy excuse and avoided her friends and swiftly headed down the road leading out of school. She sighed as she passed the gate. Too bad Naoto wasn't waiting for her or something. Yeah, something different, that was what she needed. Oh, hey, what would he look like in a Yasogami uniform? 

God, what was going on in her mind?

She'd passed the flood plain and realized she was going down the same path that she had yesterday. After a moment's consideration, she decided to go to the gas station. She had promised Souji-kun that she was going to buy cold medicine. The convenience store was sure to have some.

And she wanted to see Izaya again. Okay, so 'wanted' wasn't quite the word, but...

He wasn't there when she arrived at the gas station, but she went in and told the manager she'd like to work today, and he taught her how to restock. In the middle of his explanation about moving older stuff to the front of the shelf, the patter of rain could be heard on the store's roof. The sound made her sigh to herself, but at least she had her umbrella back.

She spent a good hour restocking various flavors of soda before the store finally got a customer needing gas and the manager told her to go out there and get to it. The customer owned a truck, which made Nanako watch him with interest and take care to note his appearance, but there was no way to know if this guy was the kidnapper. To think he'd be bold as brass, getting gas from the local gas station. Well, where else could he get it? It wasn't impossible.

All it did was remind her of the standstill the case was at. Dammit...

"You're back so soon?"

She jumped, because Izaya was behind the pump again. She treated him to an unfriendly glare.

"Yes, it can't be the pleasure of my company," he said with a half-smile.

"I'm just here for the paycheck," she announced.

The conversation was halted because a motorcyclist came up for gas. A busy day for the station! All of two customers!

"You know," said Izaya during the ensuing downtime. "I was quite impressed when you threw me down to the ground on that first day."

"Y-yeah? I wasn't trying to impress you," she replied. "But I do know some aikido."

"I was surprised. It was so... impolite." He paused and looked out at the empty street. "Japan is focused on useless pleasantries, isn't it? I find it stifling, to be honest. When I met you I thought... Here's someone who, hmm, how to say it... isn't satisfied."

She watched him closely, but said nothing.

"You mentioned that you were 'different' yesterday..." he went on. "Is that what's depressing you? Anyone can see that you aren't happy. Although it could just be my presence." He chuckled. "The first impression is what sticks, hmm? And I left quite a poor one."

"I don't hate you, Izaya-san. I just..." _Don't like you?_ She frowned in thought. That wasn't right either. "You're… different too, aren't you?" There was something odd about this guy, that was for sure, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Different," he repeated. "You could say that. But it's not important." He looked at her directly with those disturbing red eyes. "Nanako. If there were more people like you, I think the country would be in a better place."

"Wh-what exactly do you mean, like me?"

"Willing to do what has to be done to achieve her goals. I'm doing that too, hmhmhm. You hide behind a mask, yes—who doesn't? But you haven't once forgotten who you are. You should not hide that."

Nanako had no idea what gave him that impression. She hadn't interacted with him all that much for him to get such a complete picture.

At the same time... his words felt right.

"You're saying I shouldn't change myself?" she asked. "Or that I shouldn't restrain myself..."

"Some restraint is in order," Izaya admitted, "but... don't let it affect your emotional wholeness. You are what you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are what you are, even if you are a sexual deviant.
> 
> I was feeling melancholic for a bit, so I guess that's why this chapter came about. I was trying to explore what makes Nanako tick, but it's definitely not going to be resolved so easily, hehe.
> 
> I suppose I should tag this as having a pansexual character now, at any rate! 
> 
> Next Chapter: Camping Trip
> 
> Title says it all, really.


	18. Camping Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The DEATH Squad members respect nature by picking up trash. Mystery Food X does not make an appearance, the girls play the Persona Game, and everyone ends up in the river.

[6/17: Friday]

As she speared an aluminum TaP Soda can with a pointed stick, Nanako reflected on how she kind of hated the outdoors. The sun cheerfully beamed down on her, its unending heat soaking her clothes with sweat. Stupid school making them wear their stupid P.E. tracksuits for this. It was officially summer. Too damned hot for this.

At least everyone in her class was suffering with her. Down the road a little were Chie and Yukiko. Chie was holding a trash bag open while Yukiko contentedly speared litter to put in it. Everyone was supposed to be working an assigned plot on their own, but Yukiko, as always, got a free pass, and better Chie as her partner than any of the boys, right?

Speaking of boys, Yosuke was up the road some. He'd complained a lot at first—Nanako agreeing completely—but now that he put his mind to the work, he'd quieted down. It was nice at first, but the silence got boring real fast, especially since there was an exceptionally chirpy bird in a nearby tree. It sounded too damned happy to watch them suffer, and Nanako wanted to throw a rock at it, but she didn't want to risk actually hitting it or anything, so she just repeatedly muttered at it to shut up.

She didn't have to use the bathroom, but thought about claiming the need just so she could take a little break when she noticed Yosuke struggling with something in the tall grass not far from her. "L-look at this!" he called.

She walked over to see it as he pulled it up. It was an old bike so rusty that it was impossible to tell what color it had been. One handlebar was bent, its grip missing, and both tires were flat, one of them shredded like an animal had gnawed on it. Had to have been a dumb animal; rubber wasn't edible. It reminded her of the abandoned bike at the train station and she wondered idly if it was still there.

"Who'd throw a whole bike away like this?" Yosuke sounded somewhat mournful.

"Yours will end up here one day," Nanako predicted.

"I am thinking of getting a new one," he admitted. "But I wouldn't throw it away. I'm sure I could find someone who'd want it."

"It only has a few dents, after all," she joked.

"Hey, that bike was my first friend here," he said, putting one hand on his hip. "My dad got it for me as a 'sorry we had to move' gift. I don't know, it cheered me up a little bit, I guess."

"I didn't know it was that important to you," she said apologetically. He protested that the bike really wasn't important, and then she asked him about his headphones since they were another item he was rarely without.

He let go of the bike's handlebar to unconsciously move his hand up to his neck, but the headphones weren't there because he hadn't brought them on the trip. "They're what I bought with my first paycheck from Junes! Nothing special about that, I suppose—"

"Dojima! Hanamura!" Morooka shouted. He'd apparently spotted them standing there instead of picking up trash. "If you keep shooting the shit, you'll be out here cleaning past nightfall! Get back to work!"

The two looked at each other and shrugged, and then Yosuke began to drag the broken bike down the road and ultimately into the campground's large rubbish bin.

* * *

"So, what," said Nanako. "Does the campground only get cleaned once a year, using the high schoolers as slave labor?"

"There should be volunteer groups to maintain the campgrounds," Chie said, "But that was an awful lot of trash we picked up. The camping season started last month. That might have something to do with it."

After spending all morning pitching the tents and all afternoon picking up litter, the students had been given some free time. It was intended for the students to cook in using the campground's grills and food brought from home, but most were using the free period to relax instead. Nanako sat across from Chie and Yukiko at a long, wooden picnic table. A few other students shared the same table at the far end. It was canopied, fortunately, so they were out of the sun.

"I don't think my back will ever feel straight again," Nanako complained. Bending down repeatedly had taken its toll on her posture. She was going to be sore in the morning, that was for sure. She wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the hard ground. "I wish we had a TV so we could go to the bathhouse!"

"We aren't supposed to enter other TVs," Yukiko reminded her. "Teddie said it might take us somewhere else, somewhere dangerous."

"Yukiko~" Nanako sang. "Then maybe we can field trip it to the Amagi Inn and use the hot springs?" It couldn't be that far from here; they'd passed it on the bus ride, after all!

The girl gave her a half-smile. "It's policy that I don't bring friends over to use the hot springs. I'm sorry..."

"You need to inherit the inn just to change the rules," Nanako told her directly. "Because that's no fun at all!" She continued to try and persuade the girl that rules are meant to be broken, but Yukiko wasn't budging. I'm so splashing you when we go swimming tomorrow, Nanako thought.

"It's just not fair to our paying guests," Yukiko said.

"Yeah, yeah..." Nanako sighed, tired of hearing it.

Yosuke walked up to the table with his cell phone in hand. He'd been taking a few pictures of the place. Nanako presumed he'd send some to his friend in the city and wondered if he'd taken one of that mangled bike earlier.

"So, uh, what are we eating?" he asked after putting the phone away. "You know, it's pretty funny how the four of us were assigned in the same group. Maybe King Moron doesn't hate us after all."

"Nanako was in charge of the food," Chie said. "But... she didn't pack anything like that, as far as I can tell."

The three of them looked at Nanako. "Oh, you wanna eat? Gimme a minute," she said. She took out her cell phone and made a call. "Yeah, I'd like to make an order for four of your beef bowls. Yes. Four. Actually, make one of them a mega bowl. And a side order of pot stickers, please. Yeah. Oh, we're at, uh," – she turned to them and asked the campground's official name – "and the name's Nanako. Mmhm. Perfect." She hung up and told them it'd be about a half an hour.

"Did you really just order takeout?" Yosuke seemed to be in disbelief.

"What, Aiya delivers anywhere, right?" She thought of Naoto when she said, "Might as well test it!"

"Beef bowl? Hell yes!" Chie, at least, was enthusiastic.

"And here I thought I was going to be treated to a home-cooked meal." Yosuke shook his head wryly. "So I guess you can't cook?"

"Only Adachi-san and Souji-kun have suffered my cooking," Nanako replied. "It mustn't have been that bad, anyway, because they both ate it. And no one got sick, as far as I know."

"Adachi-san is that policeman? And Souji-kun is... Oh, your little cousin, right?" Yosuke asked. "Does he look like you? I'm curious now."

"He's cute as a button," said Chie. "She brought him when we went training on Sunday. I think he looks up to her."

"I do have a few pictures," Nanako said. "But, actually, Yosuke, I wanna know what your city friend looks like. So... let's picture swap!"

"Wh-what? I don't really have many pictures of him... He likes to send pictures of everything around him instead of himself."

"There has to be a few. I bet you cherish every picture you do have of him."

"I do not!" Yosuke scowled.

"There's nothing wrong with it, Yosuke. I've got several pictures of my friends from Tokyo saved on here." She flipped through her phone to find a picture of Souji she'd taken during Golden Week. He was in his Lieutenant Briefs costume. She handed Yosuke the phone.

"...That has to be child abuse," Yosuke remarked. She told him to flip to the next picture since it was one in which she was wearing her own silly costume, and he laughed out loud. "God, you're weird."

"I'm special," she corrected.

"Hey, I wanna see!" said Chie, and Yukiko followed suit. He pointed the phone's screen at the two girls, and soon Yukiko was almost falling off the bench in her laughter. Chie had to hold her upright.

"Do I have to confiscate those?" Morooka growled. Apparently their racket had drawn their chaperone's attention. Cell phones were allowed on the trip, but only because they were away from school grounds. The teacher still had the right to control their use. "No sexting on my watch!"

"I would laugh harder than Yukiko if Yosuke was sexting his friend in the city," Nanako remarked.

Sadly, Yosuke wasn't listening. He was flipping through the photos on Nanako's phone. "Hmm? Are these your friends in Tokyo? All girls, huh... Oh, hey, who's the mean-looking guy in this one? That is an impressive five o'clock shadow."

"That's my dad!" Nanako said with a smile. "He looks scary, but he's really a softie. Like Mr. Morooka!"

"Are you asking for detention, Dojima?" Morooka growled. He was still standing there in his perpetual slouch, in spite of—or perhaps due to—the fact that they'd ignored him.

Nanako pretended to think about it. "Depends. Would I be spending it with you, sir?"

"The Student Health Association needs members," Morooka said, turning a bloodshot eye on her, "and you haven't joined a culture club or sports club."

"Yeah, and none of my friends here have either," Nanako pointed out, "what's up with that?"

"D-don't bring us into this!" Yosuke hissed.

"Satonaka is on the track team," Morooka replied, to everyone except the girl in question's surprise. He ignored their reaction. "At this rate, Dojima, without an after-school activity of some kind, you will forever remain unhealthy, uncultured, and unsportsmanlike. Somehow I imagine you're completely fine with that, but I won't let you get away with being a lazy bum. Detention will temper that attitude of yours and I'll give it as often as I need to!"

Nanako didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't mind getting another lesson in philosophy, but she'd rather have it on her own terms. She was saved from answering because a dark-haired girl came forward with a large takeout bag. "Delivery for Nanako," she stated.

"Aika-chan!?" Chie exclaimed.

"Ah! Put it on the table!" Nanako proceeded to take out her wallet and pay for the meal.

Morooka glared at her with the force of uncountable years of teaching. "You were supposed to have a homemade meal with your classmates, Dojima!"

"With all due respect," Nanako replied, "I'm supposed to have classmates who know how to cook a homemade meal. And, hey, Aika-chan is a classmate!" Nanako hoped she was, at least. The girl was wearing the same teal tracksuit as everyone else. That had to mean something! "This was homemade right, Aika-chan?"

"Homemade in Aiya's kitchen," the delivery girl replied evenly.

Nanako opened the bag and pulled out several boxes. "Would you like a pot sticker, Mr. Morooka?"

The teacher simply walked away, muttering exasperatedly to himself.

She shrugged and took a bite out of one.

"You're making deliveries?" Chie asked Aika while Nanako was doling out the takeout boxes and divvying up the pot stickers.

Aika nodded. "Delivery anywhere, anytime."

"But you're a student on this trip, right?" Nanako asked. "You didn't make this food for us?"

Instead of answering, Aika just told them to leave the bowls and then left the area. Hungry from their work, they dug into the food with relish.

"Too bad Aiya isn't hiring part-time," Nanako said while stuffing her face. "I'd learn the town well doing delivery."

"But then you'd need a scooter and a scooter license," Yosuke pointed out, possibly still miffed at her for shooting down his scooter idea last week. "Anyway, Chie, you're on the track team?"

After swallowing a few mouthfuls of beef, Chie shrugged her shoulders and told them it would look good on her college applications next year.

"Which is why," Nanako continued, "you should join a club, Yosuke! Sports! You don't have to go every day, you know. Even once a month is enough for you to be considered an active member, I think."

He gave her an ultimatum: he'd join a club if she did. She scowled because she didn't really want to join the band. She far preferred solo play to accompaniment. Maybe she could join track team with Chie, or help Yukiko make a cooking club. Then Yosuke could be stuck trying out their amateur cooking.

"Fine," she said. "Now show me pictures of your friend in the city. Come on, I showed you my little cousin! Now it's your turn. It's only fair."

Yosuke sighed like she was asking him to do her homework for the next three weeks, then took out his cell phone and navigated it to a picture and handed it to her. "His name is Katsuragi, okay?"

"He's cuuuute," she trilled. He had messy black hair and friendly gray eyes. He looked rather mature for a high school student. "You sent him that picture of us and the piano?"

"Yeah..."

"What did he say about it?"

"I'm not t-telling!" he said.

"Oh? Well, I'm sure I can find it in the log." Nanako proceeded to mess with his phone. Yosuke squeaked and made a grab for it, but she nimbly moved away, continuing on her task. Then she closed the lid and handed the phone back to him, because it was private, after all. Though she would've loved to find out he was sexting... heh heh. And he should have one shirtless pic of his friend, at least!

* * *

Nanako had been expecting the school to have everyone gather around a bonfire to sing songs and make smores, but when it started to get dark out, they were told in no uncertain terms to take one last trip to the restroom and then head right into their tents. Anyone caught out of their tents after that would be expelled.

"What if Yosuke has to pee in the middle of the night?" Nanako asked before they parted ways with him. She, Chie, and Yukiko were sharing a tent in the girls' section of the campground, and Yosuke had a tent to himself in the boys' section. Apparently the boys he was assigned with hadn't shown up. She almost felt bad for him. He wouldn't have anyone to tell ghost stories with. Oh, unless he called Katsuragi up or something!

"That's not funny, Yakuza Girl," Yosuke said, his tone flat.

"I haven't mentioned the yakuza in forever," she protested.

"I haven't had to pee when you're around in forever," he retorted.

"Yes, you did, you totally did!" she exclaimed. She reminded him of their trip through the bathhouse to defeat the Shadow that took over the baths. "...But you have a point—that joke's getting old. Sorry, I won't bring it up again."

Yosuke hadn't expected that, but before he could say anything, Morooka was hassling them to get going. She waved a good-bye and then headed to her tent, where Chie and Yukiko had already set up their sleeping bags. It looked like Chie was going to be in the middle. Nanako almost snorted at the sight. _Yes, keep Yukiko all to yourself, why don't you?_

The tent was a large one. Nanako had been surprised about that when they'd set them up in the morning. They could stand up straight in it and not hit their heads. She'd figured the school would have provided smaller, cheaper tents, but they even had old-fashioned lanterns to use—though upon closer inspection the lanterns were battery-powered. The blankets, also provided by the school, smelled musty, but would definitely keep them warm in the cool mountain air.

Nanako had brought Chan-chan in her backpack. It was kind of tradition that she keep the toy rabbit with her on trips, and of course she'd like to go camping, too! She'd take the stuffed animal out to cuddle later.

...Unless she was busy cuddling Chie instead. Heh heh.

This trip could totally be worth picking up all that trash.

"We've still got a few hours 'til we have to go to sleep," Nanako said after sitting on her designated blanket. "So... Ghost stories time?"

"No!" Chie said emphatically.

"Oh, yes!" said Yukiko, eyes glowing.

"Heh, heh. Looks like the 'ayes' have it, Chie!" Nanako rubbed her hands together in delight. "Let's get the proper ambiance going, first." She turned down the electric lantern until it was giving off only a faint light. Oh, she had her pocket flashlight in her backpack. She decided against bringing it out and lighting her face with it because she'd have to turn the light back up to find it.

"A group of high school students," she began, "were visiting their friend in the hospital, a girl who was chronically ill. She was born with a weak constitution and was always bedridden. Anyway, they were talking to her to cheer her up when suddenly she collapsed in the bed. The students rushed to find her doctor, but when they opened the door down the hall, it led right into the wall! Yeah, the hospital had redesigned itself into a maze, and when they turned around, they saw—"

"Dojima!!!"

Nanako shrieked at the interruption. "Wh-what the hell, Mr. Morooka!?" she cried weakly. "That was scarier than my damn story!"

Their teacher was outside the tent. "Lissen up, Dojima! And don't give me any of your _crap._ There'sh a huuuge diff'rence between bein' insholent and indeshent!"

"Is he drunk?" Nanako whispered at the girls.

"S-seems like it," Chie whispered back. Yukiko began to titter, but Chie clamped a hand over her mouth to suppress it.

"Y-yes, Mr. Morooka?"

He hiccuped loudly. "You girls bein' de... deshent?"

"I'm feeling Chie and Yukiko up as we speak," Nanako replied, grinning to herself in the darkness.

"She is not!" Chie shouted in irritation.

"Yer mother'll hear about thish, Dojima!" Morooka growled.

"She'll be glad to hear it, sir," Nanako informed him.

"Fnehhh... Go to bed, you brats! Wish I friggin' could..." They heard him shuffle away, presumably to bother other students.

"Go to bed?" Nanako muttered. "It's barely 8 o'clock. We usually stay up past midnight, right?" Though checking the Midnight Channel was actually Yosuke's job. She'd never stayed up for it since the Bad Bad Bathhouse episode.

"Nanako!" Chie hissed. "You could've got us expelled, talking back to him like that! King Moron wouldn't think twice about it!"

"He wouldn't have a case," Nanako murmured, mostly to herself. "The public eye would side with us because we're beautiful girls."

Nanako was worried about Mr. Morooka. Where did he get the booze? Did he bring it himself, or was it one of the other teachers? Regardless, he could totally get fired if someone reported him. Yasogami was probably hurting for teachers, which was why they had such... eccentric... ones, but there had to be a limit to what behavior was excusable. Maybe... Maybe he wanted to be fired? He certainly never seemed happy in the classroom. Hell, he never seemed happy period.

He had been worried about Nanako's well-being after she'd fallen asleep in class—but it turned out it was his own well-being he should be looking after?

"I don't know what that guy's problem is," Chie said. "We're still in first term and I'm already sick of him!"

"He's... he's not that bad," Nanako said.

Both Chie and Yukiko stared at her.

"I don't want to know how bad the teachers are in Tokyo, then, Nanako!" Chie said with a weak laugh. "If you think he's good."

"I don't really listen to him," Yukiko confessed. "He's too... loud."

"He's obnoxious!" Chie corrected with vehemence. "Did you hear what he said about Naoki-kun and Ms. Yamano? That they'd probably done something to deserve it!?"

Nanako couldn't really disagree with Chie's opinion on that, but... She informed them about the third year girl whose family didn't approve of her desire to study art, and how Mr. Morooka was doing what he could to advise her. "You know, Yukiko, you could try to talk to him, too—since you're not sure what you want to do with your life. He'll be able to tell you about other options. You're a good student, anyway, so he'll listen to you with respect. I'm sure of it."

"You really think so?" Yukiko asked with a hint of hope. "I would like to talk to an adult in confidence about everything... Someone not related to the inn..."

"We have other teachers too, like Ms. Sofue. But I think Mr. Morooka would be really happy to hear you out. If you're afraid of him, you can bring me along. We have an understanding, y'know?" A kind of awkward understanding but an understanding nonetheless.

Yukiko nodded and told her she'd keep that in mind.

After that, Nanako sighed. Morooka's interruption had ruined the moment for her scary story. She flopped down onto her blanket and rested her head on her pillow. "Persona," she whispered for the hell of it. Izanami was there, she could feel her, along with Archangel and Cu Sith and the others. She sat up suddenly and held out her hand, envisioning one of her Persona Cards. A-almost! "Izanami!"

Nothing happened.

"What are you doing?" Chie asked.

"Wanna see if she'll come out in the real world," Nanako murmured. "She's there, I know it! It would be so cool if she could!"

"T-Tomoe!"

"Persona!"

"Konohana Sakuya!"

The three girls tried over and over again, but no matter how much force of will they applied, their Persona Cards would not materialize. There seemed to be some sort of block preventing it from happening.

Nanako eventually threw herself back down onto her pillow. It was a bust. Maybe the fog in the TV World had something to do with it, like it was a conduit or catalyst.

"Hey," she said suddenly, staring up at the tent's canopy. "Why don't we play the Persona Game?"

"The Persona Game?" Yukiko asked.

"Yeah. Umm, it's something my mom told me about. Oh, but we're supposed to have four people to play it with." If only Yosuke was here. That's a thought she'd never expected to have, heh. "We can still try it, though!"

"What kind of game is this?" Chie asked, suspicious. "Knowing you, it's something weird!"

Nanako smiled to herself. Yeah, she _could_ say they had to take off their shirts to play it, but she had a feeling Chie would object. Man, for being Nanako's first friend in Inaba, the kung fu girl was really turning out to be a spoilsport. She should be happy—Nanako had fed her a mega beef bowl, after all!

"Everyone stand in a different corner of the tent," Nanako ordered. She went to a corner of her own, and waved at the girls to follow suit. Chie seemed unwilling, but she obeyed after Yukiko did.

"Now what do we do?" Yukiko asked.

"I'll say a certain set of words, and then move into the corner that you're in and stop there. Then, you'll say the same words and move into the corner Chie is in, and then Chie will do the same and move into... the empty corner, I guess. And that's it."

"That's it?"

"That's it," Nanako confirmed.

"Seems like a silly game," Chie said. "What's the point?"

"It's supposed to let you see ghosts!"

"Ghosts!?" Yukiko exclaimed. She clasped her hands together under her chin. "Oh, oh, let's do it!"

Nanako laughed and started the game. "Persona, Persona, please come here!" She walked towards Yukiko, and then touched the girl's hand when she arrived. It was warm and soft and Yukiko didn't seem to mind.

Yukiko said, "Persona, Persona, please come here," with emphasis on 'please,' giggling afterward in her excitement, and moved to Chie's corner. Nanako noticed her touch Chie's hand. Maybe she didn't realize that hadn't been part of the game.

Chie shook her head. "Persona, Persona, c'mere!" She reached the empty corner and then looked askance at Nanako.

They didn't have a fourth player...

"Oh, well," Nanako said. "No ghosts for u—uhnnnn..." Her body suddenly felt heavy, and she fell to her knees and then to the ground.

Then she blacked out.

* * *

[6/18: Saturday]

Whether from the day spent trash-picking, the beefy meal, or the Persona Game, the three girls slept like rocks. Rocks that didn't get a chance to cuddle or anything. Nanako was really disappointed by how the night had gone when she realized she'd slept the entire night in the corner of the tent where she'd suddenly collapsed. It seemed like the same thing had happened to the other girls, too, since they were still asleep in their corners. In a fit of pique, Nanako took her phone out and texted her mom that the Persona Game sucks.

Oh, well, on to bigger and better things!

The morning sun was warm and bright outside the tent. That stupid songbird had returned and was serenading the day. Nanako headed to the bathroom and took care of her business, then decided to go crash Yosuke's tent since the girls weren't up. She had far fewer qualms about waking him up.

Before she could enter, though, she heard his voice. He was talking to someone? But he was supposed to be alone—

Kanji-kun?

"Can't believe they set your tent up on a rock," Kanji was saying.

"I know, right?" said Yosuke. "Good thing the other guys called out. Imagine being smooshed up against it. If they were here, we'd probably draw lots on who'd be the one, and I'd probably lose."

"Your luck's that bad, Senpai? You got the tent to yourself," Kanji pointed out. "Well, 'til I showed up, anyway. Thanks again for letting me stay here."

"No problem," Yosuke replied cheerfully. "You know, for a big guy, you didn't snore at all."

Nanako blinked rapidly. Wait, Kanji had stayed the night in Yosuke's tent? How, what, why...

When had they become friends?

...And more importantly, exactly how close had they become?

She was imagining some pretty serious stuff when Yosuke announced that he was going to use the bathroom. She quickly moved around the tent and waited for him to leave. When he was gone, she went inside the tent. Kanji was sitting cross-legged on a blanket. "Oh, Senpai! 'Mornin'," he greeted.

"Hi," she said. "How'd you sleep? I slept like a rock, probably because all the rocks I slept on! Heh."

"Not bad, not bad. Pretty big tent to sleep in, even for me." Kanji nodded his head at the tent around them. "Yosuke-senpai let me stay here, cuz all the  
guys in my tent kept giving me looks, like I was gonna kill 'em in their sleep or something."

"Yosuke was fine with it?"

"Well, he complained at first," Kanji admitted. "Don't blame him. He had a whole tent to himself 'til I showed up. But then we got to talkin' and it was cool."

'It was cool.' Well, okay. Nanako gave him a lopsided smile.

"We even found the penguin!" he declared with a grand smile of his own. He took out an animal cracker box and showed her a penguin cracker stored inside it. "It was pretty close. He almost ate it."

"Oh, hey, Nanako." Yosuke was peering into the tent. "What are you doing here?" He stepped in and closed the flap.

"I just wanted to tell you that we're going swimming after breakfast! You're both invited."

"I didn't bring any trunks," Kanji said. He looked pretty depressed.

"Not to worry!" Nanako cried. "I have some for you! Well, in my bag in my tent. I'll bring it to you."

"You brought a pair of swim trunks?" Yosuke asked, looking at her with some suspicion. "Do I really wanna know what you have planned today?"

"I'll be back!" she said, face aglow with anticipation.

* * *

After eating a breakfast of granola bars provided by the school, Nanako and the girls returned to their tent to get changed. She revealed the swimsuits she had purchased for them. The moment of truth!

"This kind of looks like my sports bra," Chie noted, holding up her swimsuit top. It had navy blue and green stripes, but they were angled instead of horizontal. She didn't seem unhappy about the similarity. "Perfect fit, Nanako! Thanks!"

"Heh heh," said Nanako.

Yukiko's ensemble was red with a white frill trim. "Oh, I like this! What do you think, Chie?" She shifted her hips to see the frill flare out.

"N-nice!" said Chie. Nanako held in her amusement. Saki had picked well, hadn't she? "And you look like sunshine, Nanako!"

The yellow and orange swimsuit made Nanako feel like sunshine, too. "Let's go out and dazzle those boys!"

* * *

They found Yosuke and Kanji standing by the riverbank. The music-loving teen was wearing red swim trunks, and the other boy was wearing the black speedo that Nanako had bought him. It would have been more scandalous if they hadn't already seen him in briefs before.

Yes, she'd bought swimsuits for everyone expect Yosuke. He had a store discount. He could buy his own! Or swim nude. She was fine with that, too.

"Wow," said Yosuke when they approached. "You girls are looking fine. Don't you agree, Kanji?"

"Uhh," said Kanji, eyeing the girls warily.

"Damn right I'm fine," Nanako said unashamedly.

Yosuke shook his head. "And then she opens her mouth."

"I could say the same about you!" she replied. "Most girls would be offended when you ogle them and tell them they're fine! Look at Chie! She's ready to kick you to defend her honor, and I think you deserve that kick."

Indeed, Chie was hopping from foot to foot... but Nanako suspected she was actually preparing to defend Yukiko's honor rather than her own. "You're about to get wet, Yosuke!" she shouted.

Yosuke held his hands up to defend himself as Chie took a step forward, and then thought better of just standing there and taking it and escaped by jumping in the water on his own. "Ch-ch-ch-ch!" he stuttered when he surfaced. "It's cold!"

"Is it?" said Nanako. _Better jump right on in, then._ "Last one in is a bambino!" she cried, running and splashing into the water. D-damn, it really was cold, but she knew if she swam around enough, her body would adjust. She waved at the girls and Kanji on the bank. "It's not that bad. Come on in!"

Chie and Yukiko nodded at each other and then walked into the river. "It is cold," Yukiko murmured when the water was up to her knees.

"Yeah?" said Nanako. "You know what's not cold? Hot springs."

Yukiko gave her a thin smile, but didn't respond.

Since there was a waterfall upstream, Nanako headed towards it, Chie following a little to her left.

"Water's brisk," Chie said, "but I like it! Maybe we should have a race?"

"We can see how long we can stay under the waterfall," Nanako said. It wasn't too high and the water wasn't flowing too fast, so it was probably safe to sit under it. She'd performed meditation under a waterfall once before during her aikido training. It had been early in the morning and meant to prepare her mind for the day to come. All it had done was make her wish she was still in bed, though... "Wasn't there a kung fu movie where the guy stayed under a waterfall for three days without moving?"

"Four days," Chie corrected. "And the waterfall was at least twice as powerful as this one!"

They swam closer to the waterfall and decided that maybe they didn't want to get their heads wet. The water was cold, after all, and, well, they weren't going to do any training afterward or anything.

"Let's go to the baths at the TV World again," Chie suggested. "That was fun. Until you tickled me!"

"Are you kidding me?" Nanako said. "That was the best part!"

"'Again'?" Yosuke had swum up after them. "What are you talking about?"

The girls explained that they'd had a girls' day out at the baths in the TV World bathhouse a few weeks ago.

"R-really?" he said. He was quiet for a moment, but Nanako would bet anything that he was trying to imagine the scene. It was a good thing the water was cold enough to temper his excitement. "Too bad I can't use the baths. I'd have to go alone, and that's against Rule #2."

"Bring Kanji-kun," Nanako said. "It's his bathhouse, anyway."

"I-I guess I could..." Yosuke said with a frown of consideration. Then he emitted a much stronger, "Yeah! I could do that. There were no Shadows there, right?"

Nanako nodded. "None. And I'll come with, too."

"W-what?" Chie and Yosuke exclaimed at the same time.

"One way or another," she said, "I'm going to have a threesome."

"Nanako!" Chie scolded. "Don't say stuff like that to Yosuke! You'll get his hopes up."

Indeed, Yosuke was blushing and he seemed to have lost his voice.

"Sorry," Nanako said, but she was only partially kidding. Her Inaba friends... didn't know her all that well, huh?

"Well, speaking of Kanji-kun," Chie went on. "Where is he?"

They spied him further down the river. Yukiko was swimming in place at his side while he pointed out something in the forest on the far side of the river. Chie and Nanako swam up to them to see what it was all about, and apparently he'd spotted a rabbit, but it had bounded away when they approached.

"Was a brown one," he said. "Just a little guy." He estimated the animal's size with his hands.

"Cute," said Nanako indulgently. "By the way, Kanji-kun, you and me and Yosuke are gonna go to the bathhouse together someday."

He scratched his head. "If you say so, Senpai."

Chie shook her head, but Nanako just laughed at Kanji's naive trust. It was part of his charm, after all!

They decided to start swimming down the river. Other students had taken to the water, too. One group had brought a beach ball to play with, and they joined in the game for a while. There was one guy wearing glasses trying very hard not to let said glasses get splashed. Nanako had her eye on him because he seemed to be wearing a speedo just like Kanji, but dark blue instead of black. It was too bad he stayed under the water...

When the DEATH Squad members grew bored of playing, they returned upriver and laid down on the grass to dry off in the sun, since no one had thought to bring towels.

Staring up at the baby blue sky, Nanako decided that she could get used to living with nature, as long as she could order Aiya every day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ordering Aiya at the campgrounds was shamelessly borrowed from the anime. Hey, it allowed us bring in the best character from it: Aika-chan!
> 
> The Persona Game! It's from the first Persona series game. It's supposed to have four players, one for each corner of the room. Why did it make them collapse? I dunno, maybe that's what happens when you don't have four players! The ghost story Nanako was trying to tell is a scene that happens early in that game. You can sorta tell I was playing that game when I wrote this chapter, heh.
> 
> Yosuke's friend Katsuragi comes from 'The Magician' manga. It was translated into English by [linefaced](http://linefaced.tumblr.com). Check it out [here](http://linefaced.tumblr.com/translationprojects).
> 
> Do you think Nanako will force Yosuke into a club? What club do you think it would be...?
> 
> Next Chapter: Every Day's Great
> 
> There had to be a chapter titled this eventually! Souji meets Yosuke. We were all waiting for this day, right? Aibous forever~


	19. Every Day's Great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako takes Souji to Junes, where he meets a new friend and she buys lots of cabbages.

[6/19: Sunday]

"Souji-kun, I'm going out!"

"...Okay."

Nanako scowled to herself. Absorbed in watching the television, the little boy hadn't even looked at her. It was only a commercial, too! It was probably a miracle that he'd even answered.

Change of plans. "Souji-kun! Did you hear me? I said _we're_ going out!"

Now he looked at her. "T-training with Chie-san?" He frowned because she wasn't wearing her P.E. uniform. That was because it was in the wash after the camping trip.

"Every day's great at..." she trailed off, then waved her hand for him to finish.

"J-Junes...?"

"Yeah! That's right!"

Souji became animated. He pushed up from his seat at the tea table in a hurry. "We're going to Junes?"

She nodded. "Have you been there before?"

"Long time ago," he murmured.

"Turn off the TV," she told him, "and go use the bathroom one last time, okay? And then we'll go!"

While he was doing that, Nanako left a note for Aunt Seta just in case the woman came home and wondered where her son was—although both scenarios were equally unlikely.

They headed out, Nanako firmly holding the boy's hand and taking the opportunity to tell him all about the camping trip. "You know what would've been even more fun, though?" she asked.

The boy looked up at her with curiosity.

"If you could've come with!" she declared. "I know Chie would've welcomed you, and Yukiko is really nice, too. You know, she's shy around boys, so I think you'd get along well."

Souji smiled at her, though she wasn't quite sure what part had amused him.

Junes was about twice as far from home as the picnic area at the flood plain. It was farther than Souji had ever gone on foot, as far as she knew. His school and the day care were pretty close to home. The takeout he bought them for dinner was usually from the corner stand just a street down.

"Here we are, then! Juuuunes!" she said as they approached the store. The jaunty Junes jingle flooded their ears. Unconsciously, the boy began to hum along with it. Nanako ruffled his hair without thinking, but fortunately the boy didn't seem to mind.

Honestly, Nanako had nothing on her shopping list. She'd simply wanted to go somewhere with her cousin. She was definitely going to take him to the movie theater someday, but a bus ride might be too overwhelming for him at this stage. He needed to get used to going out with her, first, so her plan for the day was simply to wander around the store with him.

Junes's ground floor contained the grocery department. They walked by the store's outer displays of fruits and vegetables.

"Cucumber!" Nanako said. "You can use it as a sword." She held up a cucumber and noted how thick and curved it was and then decided that maybe she shouldn't be playing with vegetables.

Then she spied the cabbages and remembered that she'd never bothered to buy any for Adachi even though she'd promised him.

Wow.

Cabbage was _cheap!_

She returned to the front of the store to grab a shopping cart and then proceeded to fill it up with cabbages. Man, all this and it wasn't even going to cost her 1000 yen? Adachi-san was a cheap date!

Souji didn't say anything, but his face upon looking at the cart full of cabbage expressed it for her: 'What are you doing?'

Nanako just laughed.

But she didn't relish pushing the full cart around as they wandered through the store, so she left the cart there by the cabbage display. Worst case scenario: someone put them all back on the display and she had to get a new cart later.

They walked past a few more displays. Souji pointed to some sort of root vegetable and asked what it was. She read him the sign and said she hadn't a clue either. "Junes sells everything, even things no one's heard of!" she joked.

All this food was making her hungry, though, so their next stop was the food court on the store's roof, where she ordered a set of rice cakes for the two of them. She sat Souji down at the DEATH Squad's usual table and they ate. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yosuke cleaning up a recently-vacated table.

"Yo yo Yosuke!" she called.

The brown-haired boy paused in wiping down the table, then waved the spray bottle at her in acknowledgment and went back to work. A short while later he joined her at the long table, sitting across from her and Souji. He was wearing the Junes part-timer apron and also a hair net, probably because he was working at the food court. "Hey, Nanako," he greeted.

"B-big sis..."

Nanako looked down. Souji was clinging to her blouse with tight little fists. "Souji-kun. This is Yosuke. He's in my class at school. You could say he's my Takeyoshi-kun." Well, maybe she wouldn't go that far, but it got the point across. "He sits behind me."

"Hi," said Yosuke. "I've heard a lot about you. Don't let your 'big sis' boss you around!" He held out his hand across the table for a handshake, but Souji just trembled. "Err..."

Nanako wrapped her arm around Souji and hugged him close. "It's okay," she whispered soothingly.

"I-I'll leave," Yosuke offered, "if, umm, he needs to be alone."

He made to get up, but Nanako shook her head. "He just needs to get used to you. It'll be okay if we keep talking. So, tell me, why weren't you smart enough to request today off? I mean, it's after the camping trip. I'd want a day off after that hot mess!"

"It wasn't my fault," he said, "but one of the part-timers called out again, and... Yeah, I'm exhausted after the trip, but I can't help it. I'm the go-to guy around here."

"Mm," she said, not exactly sympathetic. "So you're gonna have enough money... to buy me and Souji-kun a drink!"

Yosuke opened his mouth to protest and just turned it into a sigh instead. "Fine."

While he was getting the drinks, Nanako whispered to Souji that Chie was in charge of kicks, and Yosuke was in charge of drinks. And Nanako was just in charge in general. No need to be humble in front of the boy, really.

"Here you go," said Yosuke, sliding a can of Second Maid across the table to Nanako and setting down a root beer float in front of Souji.

"A root beer float?" Nanako exclaimed. "Big spender! You're spoiling him!"

Yosuke shrugged. "He looks like he could use one!" He pushed a napkin and a big plastic spoon across the table, too.

Souji blinked up at the float. It was a bit taller than he could reach.

"Oh man!" said Yosuke. "I should've had them put it in a smaller cup. I'm sorry, little guy!"

"It's okay." Nanako simply lifted Souji into her lap, and with the added height, he could now reach the float. She handed him the spoon and let him get to work.

"So, uh, how old is he?" Yosuke asked.

Nanako gave him a look. "Ask him yourself!"

"Uh... Souji-kun? How old are you?"

The boy swallowed a scoop of ice cream. "I'm six."

"Yeah?" Yosuke said. "You know, I'm sixteen! And... I'm almost seventeen. My birthday is this coming Wednesday, in fact."

"Whoa, really?" said Nanako. "I didn't know that."

"Y-yeah. It's not a big deal though. That's why I didn't mention it."

"Are you one of those people who hates birthdays?" she asked. "I mean, I understand not wanting to acknowledge that you're getting older, but to be such a spoilsport and say, 'Don't do anything for me,' – well, that's no fun!"

"I like birthdays," he said, "but I don't want to be that annoying person who's always reminding everyone that it's his birthday, you know?"

"Oh, yeah," she agreed. "That's pretty annoying, true. I bet you were like that in middle school."

"Maybe," he admitted with a half-smile. "And everyone forgot anyway! Hey, when's your birthday, Nanako?"

"October 4th. Quite a ways away! I'll probably just spend it with Souji-kun." She tickled the boy affectionately, which made him drop his spoon. "Oops! Sorry, Sou-chan!" She attempted to hand it back, but he crawled out of her lap.

"Done?" Yosuke asked. "How was it?"

"Good," Souji murmured. "Th-Thank you..."

Nanako took a napkin and wiped some stray ice cream off the boy's face. "Must have been!" she said. "You ate most of it. Hmm, there's some left. Can I...?"

"H-him," the boy said. "Give it to..."

"You want Yosuke to have the rest?" She gave Souji a quizzical look, and then shrugged. "How about it, Yosuke? Seems like it's mostly root beer."

"Sure," he said. "Pass it over."

Nanako watched Souji as he watched Yosuke finish the drink. The boy had such an intense stare; it was a wonder Yosuke hadn't noticed it, but no, he was just sucking down the root beer without a care.

"Pretty good," he said when he finished. "I should get them for myself more often!"

"I should get you to get me one!" Nanako flashed her teeth at him.

"D-don't..." Souji stuttered. "Don't boss him around..."

"Wha?" said Nanako, unable to believe that Souji had just spoken up like that, and on Yosuke's behalf, to boot! She almost said, 'What's gotten into you?' but that sounded too condescending, like something Aunt Seta would say, so instead she glared at him.

"You tell her, partner!" Yosuke encouraged.

Nanako held her hands up and wiggled her fingers at Souji like claws. "You'd better prepare for the biggest tickling session ever!"

"Big sis!" Souji wailed and tried to scoot away on the bench, but Nanako had already pounced. The boy broke out into giggles under her wrath, and despite his protests, anyone could tell he was having a good time. When she stopped they both spent a while catching their breaths.

She caught Yosuke looking at them somewhat wistfully and she lifted her fingers at him. "Are you next?"

Yosuke held up his hands in defense. "N-no, I'm good! I was just thinking, you should take him to the playground. I mean, we have one and all."

Nanako sized up the rooftop playground. It was meant for little kids, so she'd never taken note of it before. There was a sandbox with plastic buckets and shovels in the sand, a balance beam, a horse spring rider, and a slide shaped like an elephant.

"The sandbox is the worst," Yosuke commented. "The sand gets everywhere, and I hate sweeping it up!"

"Everywhere, huh?" she murmured absently. "Come on, Souji-kun! Why don't you go down the slide?"

Souji looked at it with apprehension.

"It's just an elephant, honey. Elephants aren't scary, although they never forget!" To demonstrate that it was safe, she sat down on the end of the slide. The boy was unconvinced. She tried pleading with him to at least do it once. "Pretend it's a dinosaur!"

"Well, you shouldn't force him if he doesn't—" Yosuke began.

"Yosuke! You go down the slide!" she ordered.

"Really...?" Yosuke sighed. A moment later he went over to the slide and climbed it. It wasn't a large slide; in fact, Nanako was taller than it. Then he went down the slide, but the momentum and poor incline was barely enough to bring him to the bottom. He jumped to his feet with an overdramatic flourish anyway. "Ta-dah!"

"See? It's fun," Nanako said. "Hey, it's either that or we play in the sandbox." She put a hand on her hip even while still sitting on the slide's frame. Souji scowled and finally began to climb the slide's ladder. "He doesn't like getting his clothes dirty," she whispered to Yosuke, "so I knew that would work."

When he reached the top, though, Souji didn't want to go down.

"I suppose I should've expected this," Nanako said quietly with a regretful expression. She stood up, spread her arms apart at the end of the slide, and tried to persuade him. "Come on, I'll catch you!"

Souji didn't move.

"Uh, it's okay, I can bring him down," Yosuke volunteered. "He's not the first kid who wouldn't go down, and won't be the last I'll have to rescue from the top. Believe me." He rolled his eyes.

"Will you? Thanks."

Yosuke climbed up after Souji and tentatively put his hands on the boy's shoulder. He whispered something into the boy's ear, and the boy murmured back at him, and Nanako was somewhat annoyed that she couldn't hear a word. Then Yosuke pulled the boy to his chest and lifted him down to the ground. "There we go, partner! Ground floor. Well, not exactly ground floor, since it's the roof, but..." He trailed off, possibly because the boy was looking up at him so thankfully.

It made Nanako set her face in determination. Souji was gonna go down that slide today. She grabbed him suddenly and heaved him back to the top, and then climbed up after him. "We'll go down it together!"

"N-Nanako!" Yosuke protested. "I don't know if the slide can handle that. It's meant for kids half his age!"

Nah, although it was plastic, the slide was sturdy enough. She ignored him and sat at the top, pulling Souji into her lap. He whimpered in protest. "Lieutenant Briefs, we have a difficult mission ahead," she told him to try and comfort him. "Do you think you can handle it?"

"B-big sis..." he whined.

"But the world needs us to do this. Or the sandmen win!"

"Uh, umm... if big sis is with me..." He leaned his head back until his forehead touched her chin.

She hugged him closed. "All right, then, hang on tight, LB!"

She pushed off and they went uneventfully down the slide. At the bottom, she continued to hold him. After a moment, he let out his held breath. A smile appeared on his face, and then he cuddled up against her chest. Yeah, it wasn't necessarily that the slide had been fun; he was happy to have Nanako hugging him. It made her happy, too.

"How about it?" she whispered. "Again?"

He shook his head, and she relented. She ruffled his hair and gently pushed him into getting out of her lap.

Yosuke joined them at the end of the slide, and Nanako left Souji with him just for a moment to get a drink of her soda. When she got back, Yosuke was telling the boy a story about how he had been afraid of heights some time ago. Nanako didn't believe it for a second—he had a wind-based Persona, after all! He'd probably always been up a tree when he was little.

"What, is that _Souji-kun?_ " a playful voice asked in mock astonishment. "And outside the house? Is it the end of the world?"

Nanako turned her head to see Detective Adachi standing outside the play area. "Oh, hi," she greeted. "Yeah, I dragged him out today! He totally needs some sun."

Adachi chuckled lightly. "He sure does."

"By the way, Adachi-san," she said, "I wanted to give something to you."

"I'm pretty sure I didn't leave anything behind the last time I visited," he replied with a bemused look. "I have the lighter with me..."

"It's on the ground floor. Come along. And you too, Yosuke, I need your discount!" Then the cabbages would be even cheaper!

"Ah, er, problem, Nanako," Yosuke said. He sounded a little distressed.

She looked and found Souji clinging to her friend's pants. It would take a bit more time, apparently, for the little boy to overcome this knee-jerk reaction to Adachi's presence. She walked over to Souji, patted him on the head, and told him it was okay. She then told Yosuke to meet her at the checkout lines when the boy was ready to go with him.

"All right, Adachi-san," she said briskly, turning to the detective. "I hope they didn't move my cart while I was eating!"

"Err, yeah..." The detective blinked and tore his gaze away from Souji to follow her.

And... the cart was still there, though it looked like a cabbage or two might have been taken from it. She presented the cart to the detective with a smug smile. "I told you I'd buy you cabbages for getting my friend off the hook, but then I forgot, so it's like I owe you interest, right? Yeah, these are for you."

Adachi looked like he had no idea how to react. "Uh, err... That's a lot of cabbage. You know, it's not so much that I like cabbage, but it's affordable on my pitiful salary..."

"Oh, so you don't want the cabbages? Okay." She took one out of the cart and tossed it back onto the nearly-empty cabbage display.

"Hey, hey!" he protested. "I didn't say I didn't want them."

* * *

It was a little surreal to help Adachi load the cabbages into the police car, but the sheepish grin on the detective's face made it worth it, even if Souji had latched onto Yosuke during the process. Yeah, they were standing a little bit away, and Souji had managed to get ahold of Yosuke's hand, how weird was that...? Nanako was glad they'd become friends, regardless.

When the cart was empty and she closed the door, Adachi coughed and looked around like he was afraid of being caught shopping on duty. "Well, uh... thanks."

"No, thank _you,_ " Nanako stressed. "For being a decent guy! I mean, anyone can tell Yosuke is harmless. Right, Yosuke? You should thank him, too!"

"Y-yeah," Yosuke said. "Thank you, Adachi-san. I would've been grounded for a year without your help."

The detective shrugged. "It was nothing. Just part of the job, right? Haha... Speaking of, I should probably get back to the office. Hmm..." His eyes roved from Nanako to Souji while he removed his keys from his pocket. With the keys came his lighter, which he frowned at and then replaced into the opposite pocket. "Eh, I would offer you kids a ride home, but... the car is kinda full. Well, I'll see you on Wednesday."

Releasing Yosuke's hand just for one moment, Souji gave what looked like a smile and waved the cabbage detective goodbye. Adachi's reaction was hard to gauge, but he gripped the lighter in his pocket as his hands trembled... at that, Nanako smiled, too.

After bidding him farewell herself, she walked out of the parking lot, followed by the two boys.

"That whole thing was pretty weird, Nanako," Yosuke remarked when they reached the store's front entrance.

"Nothing's weirder than TVs," she replied.

"True," he conceded. "That guy, Adachi-san. He's always hanging around Junes. Well, actually, a lot of cops patrol around here, so it's not just him. I think it's because of the air conditioning."

"I imagine Junes is a great place to get information," she said. "With all the people around, you can overhear lots of conversations."

Yosuke snorted in amusement. "Yeah, no. Unless you really need to know which brand of detergent is the best deal. Or how not to make curry. It's mostly a bunch of housewives gossiping or arguing about their favorite brands! I'd know, Nanako, I work here."

"Well..." she said. She'd just wanted to defend Adachi; she had a soft spot for policemen because of her dad.

"Anyway, partner, I think it's time you, uh, let go?" Yosuke looked down at Souji, who was still holding his hand. Not tightly, but with enough of a grip that Yosuke couldn't easily pull out of it.

"'Partner'?" Nanako observed. "That's cute."

Yosuke shrugged. "I don't know. It just felt right."

"Partner..." Souji murmured as if trying the word out himself.

"I think he likes it." She walked over to take Souji's free hand and then coaxed the boy into releasing Yosuke from his grasp.

"He's a cute kid," Yosuke admitted. He sighed. "Man, my break is long since over. I'm gonna get yelled at."

"But you sold a lot of cabbages," she pointed out.

"For what that's worth! They'd prefer it if I sold a refrigerator. Anyway, I'll see you, Nanako. And Souji-kun, too!" He gave the boy a wave and then reentered the store.

Nanako pulled her cousin along—he was staring after his new friend. What a silly kid he was, sometimes. He was rather quiet the whole walk home, but that wasn't exactly unusual for him.

Later that evening, Souji was reading a book at the tea table while Nanako sat on the couch and typed up an email to her friends in Tokyo on her phone.

"Big sis...?"

His voice was so quiet, she almost hadn't heard him. When she looked at him, his eyes were large. "Yes, Souji-kun?"

He looked down at the table for a moment, and then back at her. "P-partner... Partner's birthday... Can we do something?"

"Huh?" She blinked at him. He was giving her that intense stare of his, the one that meant it was important. "You want us... to do something for Yosuke's birthday?"

His mouth quirked and his hands fidgeted on the table. "Yeah..."

"Sure," she said, thinking he was the most darling thing to want to do that for his new friend. "But you'll have to meet my other friends, too, is that okay? They'll want to be invited."

He put on a brave face and nodded.

Nanako smiled at him and told him to help her plan it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even Souji can't stay anxious around Adachi after seeing him so happy about those cabbages, heh.
> 
> Apparently it's dangerous to go down slides together with younger kids like that. They can break their legs from the added weight. You're supposed to seat them on your lap in a special way so that won't accidentally happen. Or, well, let them go down alone.
> 
> By the way, how about that P5 trailer, eh? I'm super excited!
> 
> Next Chapter: Super Sleuths
> 
> What is up with that TV World, anyway?


	20. Super Sleuths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanji and Nanako explore the TV World.

[6/20: Monday]

Nanako was tinkering with the piano in the music room when her cell phone rang. It didn't have a ringtone associated with it (yet), but it was someone in her contact list: Kanji Tatsumi.

"'Sup?" she answered, feeling much like a mechanic as she wiped away the sweaty hair stuck to her forehead.

"Hey, S-Senpai? Err..."

Nanako straightened and held the phone closer. She could hardly hear him, and he'd sounded worried. "Kanji-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just... That detective boy is over here, at the shop, and he wants to talk to you. Well, err, he tried talking to me, but I'm not... He's making my head spin, Senpai! I figure you'd be the one to talk to."

"Shirogane!? Tell him I'll be right there!"

Damn, why was the shopping district so far from the school? Okay, it wasn't actually that far, but when you were in a hurry, it sure felt like it. She wished she had a bike. Too bad Yosuke hadn't spent the day watching her work on the piano again. Then she could just steal his bike, but no, he'd been forced to pick up yet another shift at Junes. 

"Hi Tatsumi-san are they in the back?" Nanako asked breathlessly upon entering the store.

"Yes, my dear—"

She was already moving towards the back door. So single-minded in her mission, she was completely unaware of her rudeness.

"Shiroganeeeee!" she cried upon seeing the detective at the tea table, sheaves of papers strewn in front of him. The boy was wearing casual wear today—an aqua button-up dress shirt with a bright yellow tie.

Naoto's gray eyes, so focused on the paper he was looking at, brightened upon seeing her and almost made her swoon. "Ah, Nanako-san. We were just discussing the case. I was attempting to see if Kanji-san could identify his attacker's uniform, assuming he'd been disguised as blue-collar worker of some sort. No progress so far, unfortunately."

"S-sorry," Kanji said, looking down at his knees from where he sat at the couch in the room. "It coulda been blue... Or maybe gray... I'm not sure."

Nanako sat across from the detective at the table and glanced at the various papers, but reading upside-down was difficult.

"Here," said Naoto, handing her a sheet. "These are the connections I've become aware of."

Nanako stared at the paper in puzzlement. It looked like cryptography to her. The writing was nigh-illegible, and all the words were circled and connected to other words with microscopic notes along the connecting lines. Her eyes were starting to spin. Was this the mind of a genius? She set her jaw in determination and pulled out a magnifying glass and made her best attempt to make sense of it all.

"Ah, Nanako-san," Naoto said, "that's unnecessary. I'll summarize. Every connection between the victims—murder and kidnapping—is tenuous at best. I suspected as much a long time ago. If, for example, it was a grudge against high school students, Mayumi Yamano should not have been targeted."

"Yeah," Nanako said. "And the fact that Naoki-kun had discovered her body has long since been rendered irrelevant due to the kidnappings. Kanji-kun had absolutely no tenable connection." Phew! She was pulling out the big words here to stay on par with the Detective Prince.

"Indeed. Both males and females have been targeted, and the attacks do not seem to be motivated by sexual desire. The motive is the key, and I suspect in this case the motive is something unusual."

"Yeah, I can imagine a guy pushing people in the TV just because he can. I mean... I kinda pushed Yosuke in—but I went in after him and got him back out!" she quickly appended.

"Yes, you are my prime suspect, Nanako-san," Naoto said dryly. "Nevertheless, in my research I have discovered that none of the victims had been seen associating with anyone unusual for them, as far as their closest friends and family seem to be aware."

"I've been working at the gas station to, uh, maybe identify the most active types of trucks in the area and get some idea on their traffic pattern. It hasn't been that useful," she admitted. "I haven't been all that consistent in my work schedule there."

"I have compiled a list of trucks registered in the area," Naoto said, holding up another sheet of paper. "There are more than one would expect from a town this small."

"Damn," said Nanako as the detective handed the list to her. She pored over it until she found the number of the truck she'd seen at the gas station. She pointed it out to Naoto, informing him that at least one truck was still active around the town. The detective had her mark the name for further investigation.

"What I would like to do," he said, "is obtain a list of people who've bought large televisions, and then cross-reference the names with those who own trucks."

"Junes is the only place that sells large TVs around here," Nanako noted. "Those records shouldn't be hard to obtain."

"Unfortunately, there is a customer privacy act. For such records to be released, I would need a better reason than I can provide with the evidence we currently have."

Nanako waved away his concern. "I have an inside hand with Yosuke. He's the manager's son. He can get us those records, I'm sure."

"Convenient, but it would be a violation of law." The detective paused. "Tell him to be careful." He went on to note that it hadn't rained at night in some time. "I haven't been able to verify the Midnight Channel. Quite frustrating... Oh, but before you arrived, I asked Kanji-san for further information on this 'TV World.' A world behind the TV... It is fascinating. Would you be willing to investigate it for me?"

"Of course, Shirogane-san!" she cried with cheery enthusiasm. "But you can always come with!"

"As exciting as that sounds, I would rather stay within the realm of the familiar for now. Here." He handed Nanako a gadget. "I'm told digital devices do not work there, but analog should be fine. It's a pedometer, but it also has some other functions. Apparently the TV you regularly enter by is in the local Junes."

"S-sorry, Senpai," Kanji said. "I told him a lot."

"Saves me time," Nanako replied, unconcerned. "What exactly do you want me to do with this?"

"I would like you to find out how far each of the locations in the TV World are from each other. I understand there are few landmarks within it, and it seems to be mostly empty space... Still, I'm curious about something, and I was wondering if you could map out the areas you are familiar with." Naoto proceeded to show her the pedometer's functions. It had a built-in compass and thermometer.

"Map it out," she repeated. "Are you thinking it's a parallel to our world?"

"To think I'd ever entertain the idea of parallel worlds..." He sighed. "But you are correct. I'm wondering if the location of the television the victims are placed in is collateral with where they end up on the other side."

"The apartment was very close to the castle," she remarked. "Both Yamano and Yukiko were at the Amagi Inn when they went missing. Huh... I wonder if the backlot is as far away from those places as Junes is to the Inn. Man, Kanji-kun, we gotta get on this today!"

"Sure, Senpai," Kanji said, lifting his head. "I don't mind going in."

"Oh?" said Naoto. "In that case, would you mind—"

"Bringing you along?" said Nanako. "Of course!"

"—taking these with you," the detective continued, unfazed by her interruption. He pulled out three jars and a net from his laptop bag. "That fog within the TV World. I would like to perform some tests on it. Please capture some of it with the fog collector for me."

"At this rate, you'll want Shadow goo, too, won't you?" Nanako sighed. "Yeah, sure, we'll do it." She took one of the jars, and he demonstrated how to ensure that it was air-tight.

"And what is 'Shadow goo'?" Naoto then asked, and Nanako wanted to kick herself. She told him it was an inside joke. Apparently Kanji had not mentioned Shadows in his explanation. "Oh, and I would like one of those lenses that can see through the fog, if that can be done."

Nanako agreed. "A-anyway, Shirogane-san, you could at least see us off into the TV, maybe?" She looked at him hopefully, and his mouth quirked into a half-smile, but he declined once again.

* * *

The first thing Nanako and Kanji did while in the TV World was set the fog collector up just outside the backlot area. The fog seemed thickest around there, and Nanako had high hopes of collecting its condensed form into the jars Naoto had provided. She'd opened one of the jars out of curiosity and found they were lined with plastic bags to create a sort of dual-layer to keep the fog contained. The detective had thought this through, that was for sure.

It really was too bad he didn't want to join them inside.

The next thing they did was ask Teddie for directions. Compasses didn't seem to work in the TV World. Likely it didn't have magnetic earth under it. The floor seemed firm and dirtless everywhere. Maybe one day she would bring a shovel and pickaxe and see what was underneath it all.

Without a working compass, then, they'd have to decide the cardinal directions arbitrarily. She asked Teddie which way Yukiko's Castle was and set that as 'north.' The Amagi Inn was north of Inaba in the real world, after all, and they knew Yukiko had been near the inn when she was thrown in. The best way to see if the TV World mirrored the real world was to match up their maps.

Nanako then asked where the apartment was from the backlot.

"Same way!" Teddie declared, bobbing his head in excitement. He was so glad to see them again that Nanako almost felt bad. They hadn't gone into the TV World in a long time, but it had been so quiet. He hadn't sensed any new large Shadows, so they had no real reason to go in except to keep up their training.

She drew a circle on the ground with a permanent marker and drew a line pointing there. She labeled it 'N' and then proceeded to mark the other cardinal directions in relationship to it.

After that, she asked Teddie where the replica shopping district and the bathhouse were. The bathhouse was northeast of the backlot—yes, their hypothesis seemed to be working! The real world's shopping district was northeast of Junes, and that's where Kanji was thrown in...!

But the replica shopping district threw her for a loop. It wasn't near Kanji's dungeon at all. Maybe Naoki hadn't been thrown in a TV near his home. Yeah, they didn't know much about his kidnapping. He hadn't returned home the day he'd went missing. The replica shopping district was south of the backlot, so he'd presumably been thrown into a TV somewhere south of Junes. Interesting. Naoto would have to be told about that.

Now to pinpoint how far, exactly, these locations were from the backlot and from each other. Before heading off into the fog with Kanji, she told Teddie to make another pair of glasses, and the bear set about the task with obvious enjoyment.

She decided to head to the replica shopping district first, since the location of Naoki's kidnapping was of prime interest. As she was walking there, she realized Kanji had never seen the place. It was pretty eerie, so she warned him he might not like to see it.

He shrugged. "Gonna take a lot to scare me, after all these Shadows we've fought."

"True enough," she said. "Still, you've lived in the shopping district all your life. I don't want to give you nightmares. Besides, Naoki-kun was your friend."

"An' that's why we gotta do this," he replied, his face set in determination. "It's not like I want revenge, but..."

"Truth and Justice," she murmured mostly to herself.

"That bastard had a lot of guts going after me. Wish I'd taken your warning more seriously. You know, prepared myself more, got more for you all to go on."

"Don't blame yourself. I should've stayed with you the whole day. Even if it would've given your mom the wrong idea."

Kanji smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, she's real happy I got friends, even though she's no idea what this's all about."

"Better for her, of course. By the way, did you finish those pot holders?" she asked curiously.

"I did," he admitted, "and we sold them to Kujikawa-san down the road. She and Ma are pretty close."

"Kujikawa," she murmured. "Name sounds familiar."

"Yeah, she's Rise Kujikawa's grandma. I don't pay attention to that sort of thing..."

"Oh! Risette!" Nanako perked up in surprise. "Heh, so the infamous pop star Risette is from Inaba, huh? That's cool. A country girl at heart. Surprised they never used that in an ad campaign."

"She and I are about the same age," Kanji remarked, "but I never really knew her. She's been away from town ever since she got a contract."

"Out of here like a rocket. Can't really blame her. Aaaand we're here!"

The replica shopping district was so quiet that it felt like a true ghost town. The red and black lines rotating in the sky could induce motion sickness. It was almost better to look at the place without the anti-fog glasses on.

"There's my shop," Kanji said quietly as they passed by it. The windows were dirty and they couldn't see inside the store. The door wouldn't open, not because it was locked, but because, Nanako suspected, it wasn't actually a door.

"And then there's the totally out-of-place Junes." The theme music sounded too loud in the empty street.

"Some creepy shit," Kanji admitted, his shoulders hunched as if to ward off chills. "But Senpai, I know it isn't real, so..."

She told him that she thought it might be how Naoki saw Junes, and Kanji said it made sense to him.

"The liquor store is where Chie's Shadow came out. Chie apparently didn't get a dungeon because she wasn't in here long enough. Or because I brought her in. Teddie wasn't very clear on how the dungeons form... Anyway, we don't have to go in." She checked the pedometer and recorded its distance on a notepad. "Kanji-kun, can you sense the bathhouse from here? Maybe we can go right there instead of heading to the backlot."

"Yeah, Senpai. It's this way."

"One moment!"

Nanako took her marker and drew another circle in the sidewalk, marked the cardinal directions again, then brought out a protractor to help her define the angle between the backlot and the bathhouse from the shopping district. With the help of triangulation, perhaps they could narrow down the location of Naoki's disappearance in the real world. This was all her own idea. It would impress Naoto so much!

Her excitement was euphoric. They were making progress once again! It was a stark contrast to her melancholy the previous week.

When they reached the bathhouse, Nanako did the same thing: mark out a circle and mark the direction they'd come from, labeling it 'shopping district.'

While Nanako was still doing that, she noticed Kanji looking at the bathhouse entrance with a mix of emotions on his face. "Something on your mind?" she asked.

"Naw, it's just... a bathhouse? Man..."

"It was a pain going through it to rescue you," she said, "but then I got to see Yukiko's legs and Yosuke's tiger panties and, well, your Shadow in a fundoshi. Heh heh. Uh, anyway, I think the bathhouse represents your desire to be seen as who you are. Like since you're naked in a bathhouse, you can't hide your appearance from others, and they can't hide from you."

"Maybe..." Kanji hadn't altered his gaze from the bathhouse.

"Wanna go in?" she asked, straightening up from her work. "We can take a break. We've still got the apartment and castle to visit, but they're near each other, so..."

"That's okay, Senpai. I don't want to go in."

He said it so quietly that she capped the marker put a hand on her hip. "Kanji-kun. Your Shadow... are you a little bit jealous of it? I mean, it was so open, even if that openness isn't an accurate representation of how you'd ever act or even want to act."

"Senpai... I don't really want to think about it." He held his lower lip in his teeth.

"But you have been thinking about it, haven't you?" she pressed. "You haven't told me to stop sending you manga, anyway."

"Senpai, where do you find your strength?" he asked, turning his head to look at her suddenly.

"My strength?" She snorted. "Did you see me last week? Before the camping trip, I was a hot mess. I skipped class that Monday! That's not like me at all."

He asked her what happened. She thought of waving away his concern, but then decided that she might as well be honest. Kanji knew what it was like, keeping it all bottled up. And although he held her in high respect as his senpai, they hadn't interacted enough for him to be super disappointed in the truth about her.

"Kanji-kun, you might not expect it," she said, "but I'm one hell of a pervert. Think of the creepiest guy creeping on a girl, only substitute me for the guy and everyone under the sun for the girl." She paused, visualizing that, and said, "Okay, maybe it's not _that_ bad."

His brow furrowed. "Pervert, Senpai...?"

"Yeah. I don't really like these things called 'social mores.' I just do whatever shit I feel like doing, and then deal with whatever shit comes after. Kiss someone else's boyfriend, flirt with a hot cheerleader, steal underpants from the locker room. Well, that was only once, but yeah. I do what I want, because otherwise life would be too boring."

Kanji was blushing, maybe at her admission or maybe at her choice of language. She didn't care.

She crouched down, uncapped the marker, and began to draw on the floor while she continued to speak. "I never had any doubts about that until I came to Inaba. After seeing everyone's ugly sides, I'm starting to wonder... about myself... and... stuff." She paused and put the end of the marker against her chin. "Things are so different from Tokyo, y'know? Everyone's so buddy buddy and friendly. I feel like everyone wants to get up in everyone's noses. Maybe it's why this place exists, right?"

"I think Teddie said something like that," Kanji contributed with a hint of worry in his voice.

She went back to drawing. "Yosuke says he's closer to his friends here than he was in the city, but that's because he's your average sixteen-year-old dudebro. People hold Junes, of all things, against him. Junes!" She barked the word, and then shook her head. "It's not even a part of who he is. Back in the city, no one would give two shits about the store he works at and whether or not the manager is his dad or his pimp. But here, he's Junes boy. And that's his shtick. He complains, but honestly, he's nothing to worry about. Y'know... his Shadow didn't surprise me in the least."

"Yukiko-senpai told me it was like a frog..."

"Ninja frog with shurikens and everything! It even tried to look up our skirts." She smiled at the memory. That fight had been fun, seeing Yukiko's fiery Persona in action for the first time. "But anyway, yeah, he's nothing to worry about. But us? Hah. You know how others see you, Kanji-kun. You know how you saw yourself! I doubt we'd ever know about your problems if this place hadn't forced us to. Your real problems, not what everyone thinks about it."

She glowered down at the drawing. It was an outline of a body, just like those at the TV backlot. She thought of adding a vulgar bit of anatomy to it, but just sighed instead.

"And I'm the same," she muttered loudly. "Nanako is a big joker! She seems so innocent, but her mind's in the gutter, teehee. She's just so fun to hang out with. No one really knows me." She tilted her head at him. She'd avoided looking at him during her rant, pretending to be focused on her impromptu art. Now their eyes locked. "Well, I guess you do now, huh?"

"Senpai," he said slowly, "do you want people to know the real you?"

"Sometimes yes and sometimes no," she replied. It was a question she'd been trying to answer ever since last week. She hadn't changed her behavior at all since then, not really. But the camping trip had been a distraction, as well as Naoto's contact out of the blue, so she hadn't too much time to think it over yet. By now she was at least used to everyone's summer school uniforms. Well, as used to them as she could get.

"Ya know, Senpai... I think everyone's a bit of a pervert," he said. "You sent me more from that mangaka, yeah? Well, you didn't have to, because I'd already gone and found the rest of the guy's work myself."

Nanako blinked at him. "All of it?"

"Yeah. All of it." He was blushing again, but there was a big grin on his face. He was happy to have been able to tell her. "Yeah, I like it, and I ain't afraid to tell you at all. An' I'm thinking, maybe... maybe we could take a break in the bathhouse. If you want to, Senpai. I'm not about to let the symbolism or whatever shit stop me from havin' a good time with a friend."

She capped the marker and tossed it to the floor. "Hell. Yes."

* * *

When it came right down to it, the castle was basically in the apartment's backyard. If you looked hard enough, you could even see one place from the other. Yeah, now there was no doubt in Nanako's mind: someone at the Amagi Inn that cold April night had pushed Mayumi Yamano into the TV. Had it been another guest there? Or an employee? Oh, god, she couldn't wait to tell Naoto this!

She and Kanji returned to the TV backlot after mapping out the final two locations, fairly pleased with the results of their investigation. The map had come along nicely. It wasn't perfect, but it would do until they had better tools. The pedometer felt imprecise, and she'd been as accurate as she could with the protractor, but a fair amount of it was still guesswork. It was such a pain that electronics didn't work in there. She'd wanted to take pictures of the apartment to show Naoto, and of the replica shopping district to determine if it was a 1:1 scale.

"Boss! I did it, I did it!" Teddie's round form was hopping from foot to foot as they approached. He handed her a pair of navy blue glasses.

Nanako stared at them in surprise. "H-how did you know they should be blue...?"

"I've made pink ones, and green ones, and yellow ones, so..." The bear's arms moved up and down in as much of a shrug as his stout body could manage.

"But how did you decide on this particular shade of blue?" she inquired. Kanji agreed—they matched Naoto's clothing perfectly. Maybe Teddie had sensed their thoughts somehow when making it. It was kind of creepy!

"I... I dunno, Boss! Do you like them? I could make another set just for you!"

"They're... they're perfect!" she declared. "Thank you, Teddie. And if you wanna make another set, go ahead. Wait a sec... What else can you make?"

His giant eyes blinked at her. "What else...?"

"Like, can you make contact lenses instead?" Though she wasn't sure she'd want to put anything he made directly into her eyes. Then again, if he could make them yellow, the results could be hilarious. She could trick her friends by pretending to be her own Shadow. "Or maybe, uh, clothes? I mean, you made that costume, right?"

"This was grown, not made," he said, toying with one of his big red buttons. "It's my body, after all! But sure, Boss, I could probably make something neat. Something Boss would want to wear! Rawr, now I'm raring to get to work!"

Nanako encouraged him, and after he walked off to apparently get on that, she went to check the fog collectors. Disappointingly, they hadn't collected even one drop of water. The fog had never felt cold, so it was possible it wasn't moisture at all. Some successes and some failures, hmm... Well, maybe it needed more time. They'd let it sit overnight.

Actually, the fog was thick enough in this area to catch at least some of it by simply moving the jar through the air. She filled all three of them this way.

She and Kanji exited the TV and landed in the electronics department. Nanako dusted her blouse off, but couldn't hide the reek of sweat from all the walking they'd done in there. Pocket deodorant was something to pack in the future, heh. Maybe mouthwash and toothbrushes and toothpaste, too? They'd spent long hours in the TV World before; it was about time she finished fleshing out their emergency supplies within it. Besides, if one of the group accidentally fell in and Teddie wasn't around, they might need it. The bear did seem to wander, sometimes.

"You know, Senpai," Kanji said, getting to his feet, "that was fun!"

"I feel so refreshed," she agreed. "You have no idea, Kanji-kun!"

"And we didn't even fight any Shadows or nothin'!"

You don't always need to fight, she thought, but he knew that. She smiled back at him. He'd followed her around all day, even though his help wasn't really needed. She could have forced any of the others to come, but he'd volunteered without hesitation, and he hadn't been upset when she was honest with him about herself. He was going to be a loyal friend, she could tell already.

"Were you guys... in the TV World?"

Nanako blinked and saw Yosuke standing there with a broom. Apparently he was on sweeping duty for the store. She checked the time. Yeah, it was really late! The store might even be about to close.

"That's right, Yosuke," she said. "We went to the bathhouse. Right, Kanji-kun?"

Kanji nodded. "Yeah! We did, senpai."

Yosuke's face colored, and Nanako grew an evil grin. "Heh heh..."

"And the other places, too," Kanji, truly an innocent, went on. "We went everywhere. That Junes in there... I'm glad we can't get inside it. It's just wrong."

"We were investigating," Nanako admitted, and it took a moment for Yosuke to be convinced. The clipboard and pedometer in Nanako's hands were probably what finally did it. Too bad for him that they really had gone into the bathhouse! Heh heh. "Speaking of, Yosuke, I need your help with something. It's for the investigation. I'm serious!"

"Yeah? What is it, Nanako?" Yosuke asked. "Did you guys find something?"

She told him about the much-needed list of people who'd bought a big TV in the last few months. He said it wouldn't be too hard to look up sales records.

"I could probably do it tonight, even," he mused. "I'm on the closing shift."

"If you can, bring it to me in class tomorrow," she said. "With all that we've learned today, we might have a lead!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any bets on how long it's gonna take until Nanako pushes Naoto into a TV? hehe
> 
> Next Chapter: Blueberry Cheesecake Brownie
> 
> It's just sweetness all over.


	21. Blueberry Cheesecake Brownie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako reports the findings about the TV World to Naoto. Yosuke gets a birthday he'll never forget.

[6/21: Tuesday]

Naoto called Nanako on her cell phone. She could hardly believe it. The Detective Prince had obtained her phone number. She hadn't given it to him—what an oversight on her part!—so he must have asked Kanji for it.

Why not take this one step further? Nanako invited him to the Seta residence to discuss the results of the TV World investigation. They'd freeloaded on Kanji's mom too often, anyway. Not that Nanako had any good snacks, but...

He agreed. _He agreed!_

Should she dress nice? No, she was being silly. Naoto wasn't the type to even notice. Well, he'd notice as part of his detective's instincts, but he wouldn't make anything of it. Nanako's crush wasn't relevant to the investigation.

As expected, the Detective Prince was punctual, arriving at the exact minute he said he would. After dispensing with pleasantries, Nanako brought him to the living room and they sat at the tea table.

"Please report," Naoto said in a business-like fashion.

"Do you have that map of Inaba?" Nanako asked. "Here's the map we made of the TV World. I tried making it to scale, but a fair amount is estimation. Here's the Junes—the stage, we call it the 'backlot'—which I made the center point."

Naoto watched with rapt interest as she explained the landmarks on the map and her full belief that they corresponded to locations in the real world. The detective brought out his scaled map of Inaba. It wasn't a perfect match, but it was sufficient enough to strongly suggest that she was right.

"And you say that Konishi-kun's... 'dungeon' is south of our Junes, and from your triangulation, the estimated distance would set it around here." Naoto circled an area south of the Samegawa River with a red pen. "There are a number of locations of interest in that region. I'm reluctant to ask the Konishi family what their son would be doing around there. They're not exactly friendly towards questioning after two months and no progress."

"I'm friends with Saki Konishi," Nanako said. "I'll ask her myself!"

"I think I'll take you up on that."

They went on to talk about Mayumi Yamano's disappearance from the Amagi Inn. In the middle of their discussion, they heard the front door open. Soon Souji was standing by the stairs and staring openly at the stranger in his house.

"Sou-chan! You're early!" Nanako remarked. "You didn't go to cram school?"

"Takeyoshi-kun isn't feeling well..." he said quietly.

"Ah, well, I won't interrupt further," Naoto said. "I shall take my leave." He tipped his hat and made to stand.

"No, stay!" Nanako said. "We're definitely not done here, Mister!" She motioned for the little boy to come over. "Sou-chan, c'mere. It's okay, Shirogane-san. This is my little cousin, Souji-kun."

"Err, greetings, then, Souji-kun," Naoto said. "I am Naoto Shirogane."

"He's the Detective Prince!" Nanako announced.

"P-prince...?" Souji asked, with a small frown of puzzlement.

"Yep, that cap is his crown!"

"How ridiculous..." Naoto's face turned a glorious red.

"Can you bring _my_ princess down from my room, Souji-kun?" Nanako asked. "I think she'd like to meet a real prince."

Souji stared at her for a moment, and then headed up the stairs.

"Please indulge me, Shirogane-san," she whispered quickly while the boy was out of earshot. "He's only six, but he's such a shy boy. I want to include him into as many things as I can, and try to get him used to meeting new people."

"I see. That's fine. And you were correct in that we weren't finished here." The detective looked down at the TV World map and wrote a note by the Junes lot.

Souji returned, holding a large stuffed rabbit tightly in his arms.

"Thank you, Sou-chan!" Nanako said. "Would you please introduce them?"

"Uh, umm... Shiro... Uh, umm... Th-this is Chan-chan..." Souji held out the rabbit at arm's length.

"I am glad to make your acquaintance," Naoto said in a completely serious voice. "Princess Chan... chan."

Now Nanako was the one blushing in embarrassment... but she didn't regret this. "Y-yeah, uh, come and sit with us, Sou-chan! If you skipped cram school, then you don't have any cram school work, right? Hang out with us!"

The boy obediently sat on the cushion next to Nanako and peered at the map of Inaba on the table. She wondered if he recognized what it was. How old was she when she'd learned to read maps? Middle school, maybe.

"Here's something else you've been wanting, Shirogane-san!" She brought out the folder Yosuke had given her that morning: the list of people who'd bought TVs from Junes in the past year. There weren't too many, so it'd be easy to find a matching truck owner. Of course, this was assuming the culprit had bought a new TV to commit his crimes with, and from Junes...

"Such alacrity," Naoto murmured to himself. "But, yes, this is essential to narrow down the hunt. In fact, I'd like to deliberate on this now... No, it can wait." He put the list down and looked at her. "Nanako-san. You have compatriots. Would they be willing to aid me in a matter? This weekend, in particular. Saturday after school, or perhaps Sunday."

"C-com..." Souji's eyes were crossed as he tried to repeat one of the detective's words. "Com...pa..."

"Compatriots," Nanako finished for him. "It means 'friends' or 'allies,' Souji-kun! And Shirogane-san, even if they're not, I'd make them. Heh heh. What do you have in mind?" A guided tour of everyone's dungeons in the TV World? Probably not, but she could dream!

"Something tedious. I would like to get an idea of the traffic patterns in the town in an attempt to identify the trucks active in this region. I doubt the culprit would keep his truck stored until he feels the need to try and kidnap someone, so he should be using it as one normally would. Well, it's simply an idea, but I thought your... compatriots," – Naoto actually smiled at Souji – "would be willing to observe trucks at different parts of the city. We can get their numbers and match them to the registration list."

"Saturday after school. Or Sunday, but it would have to be after Loveline and Featherman, hmm," Nanako mused.

"I would prefer both days," the detective said, "to get a more accurate representation. But I won't begrudge anyone their morning television."

"Ah, err, I can set the shows up to be recorded." She hung her head in embarrassment. "It's not a big deal! But yeah, I can probably convince my friends. Umm, by the way, you can meet my team, if you'd like. We'd always be glad to have more support."

He shook his head. "I would prefer to work with you and Kanji-san for the time being."

"Yeah, I don't blame you." It wasn't like Chie or Yosuke could tell him anything that Nanako hadn't. He might be able to get something new out of Yukiko by asking something she'd overlooked, but she doubted it.

Naoto began to pore over the map and pointed out the important intersections he'd like to have observed. After marking out their planned locations, Nanako stared at the area he'd circled earlier.

"I really wonder what's south of Junes," she mused.

"Police department," Souji murmured. Both Naoto and Nanako looked at him suddenly in surprise, and he became flustered from the sudden attention. "Y-you asked, so..."

"Is he correct?" Nanako prompted the detective. She'd been to the police department once, but she hadn't paid attention to where it was in relation to Junes. That ride in Adachi's police car had been rather short, hadn't it?

The detective nodded. "Indeed. It's quite possible that had something to do with Konishi-kun's disappearance—"

"Good job, Souji-kun!" Nanako said, giving the boy a hug. "You just helped us with the mystery! Truth and Justice!"

"Ahem." Naoto cleared his throat. "Indeed. Thank you, Souji-kun. That connection was something we had yet to make ourselves. It opens up several different possibilities. I'll have to inquire at the station if Konishi-kun was scheduled for a follow-up interview or some such."

"He might've been kidnapped on the way there," Nanako contributed, "or after the interview was conducted! Well, there are other places near the station, too. Some coffee shop, I see. He could have gone there, too."

"There are so many possibilities the police did not look into regarding that boy's last sighting." Naoto's face had a dark cast to it. "They have it listed in the records as his sister, even though she had reported that she had not seen him after school. It should be listed as his classmates. It's ridiculous."

"Are you at odds with the police department?" she asked. He'd sounded disdainful, as if that was just the tip of the iceberg representing his problems.

"They have not taken kindly to my interference, as one might expect. I questioned the medical examiner in regards to sedatives, for example, and he had nothing to report, nor was he willing to discuss the possibility of chloroform. Well, his reputation is on the line, so I understand that he has to be adamant about the accuracy of his report, but it is both premature and unprofessional to rule it out when it was not at all tested for. As for sources of chloroform in the Inaba area, well, given the ingredients, it is not at all difficult to make in one's own home, although it would be dangerously potent."

"Yeah, I might even have the ingredients myself! It's pretty scary what people often have in their garage, when you think about it. Speaking of scary, Shirogane-san, I captured some of that fog for you." Nanako pulled the three fog-filled jars from under the table, where she'd been keeping them in anticipation for a good moment to bring the subject up. Souji looked at the jar with such curiosity that Nanako had to explain. "It's fog. Fog is just water in the air, you know. But this is special fog and we're not sure if it's water or something else! By the way, why did you need three jars, Detective Prince?"

"It's always better to have more than one sample of something you'd like to research," he explained. "I'm sure you understand."

"Sure. Oh, and here are your glasses!"

"Glasses...?" Naoto took the proffered pair of glasses and inspected them curiously. He put one of the lenses to his eye. "They don't appear to have been built with any ocular correction in mind."

"Put them on, Shirogane-san," Nanako exhorted, "and then look at the fog in the jar!"

He did as he was told, and raised his eyebrows when the fog disappeared from his sight. "I had been warned about the effect, but to see it for oneself. It's highly irregular."

"Souji-kun, here, use mine!" Nanako handed the boy her own pair of TV World glasses. He looked it over curiously, mimicking Naoto's inspection. He touched the metal studs on the frame before finally putting them on.

"The fog..." he noted. "It's gone."

"And when you take them off, it's back again. What do you think of that?" she asked. "Maybe you can solve this mystery for us too, Detective Briefs!"

Souji frowned in concentration, Nanako's rad glasses slipping down his nose because they were too big for his head. "I... I don't know," he admitted.

"That's okay, Detective Briefs!" she told him. "We'll crack this mystery yet!"

"Indeed we shall," Naoto added, tipping his cap perhaps unconsciously.

"We're on the case!" Nanako lifted her fist into the air and struck a pose from the opening to Loveline.

"T-truth and Justice," Souji said with a big smile on his face. Combined with the glasses, Nanako couldn't resist pulling him into another hug.

When they'd stopped giggling, Naoto told her there was one final thing he would like to do with her.

"What's that, Shirogane-san?"

"I would like to map out the influence of this 'TV World' and discover whether it originates from one particular source in Inaba. You said you'd touched a TV in Okina and couldn't," – Naoto cut himself off after glancing at Souji – "err, it wouldn't work. Why here and not there... We can spend a day with a small TV and my scooter and see where the influence ends."

"You have a scooter?" Nanako blinked. The detective was barely old enough for a license!

"It is more motorized bike than scooter," he said, "but yes, and two people can legally ride on it. Not comfortably, I must admit, but it can be done."

Despite her complaints to Yosuke about the dangers of scooters and motorcycles, Nanako was totally up for this. "Not tomorrow—I have plans." She scowled. Stupid plans were still plans, right? Yeah, she couldn't back out of Yosuke's birthday now, unfortunately. Souji was counting on her! "But Thursday or Friday, sure."

"Then unless something comes up, I will see you on Thursday. I can meet you at the school gates, if that's acceptable." She agreed with poorly-disguised excitement. Naoto said he would consider their new leads in the meantime, and then stood up to leave. "Thank you for your hospitality and your assistance."

Nanako walked him to the door, little cousin at her heels. "Souji-kun! Say goodbye to the nice detective!"

"Goodbye, Sh-Shiro...gane-san," Souji said. "Good luck..."

Naoto bowed towards him. "Thank you very much, Souji-kun. Enjoy your evening."

"Isn't he a nice guy?" Nanako asked her cousin after he'd left. "Adachi-san could learn a thing or two from him! Well, I'm kidding. Adachi-san has been very nice, too."

Souji murmured his assent. She kindly asked for her glasses back, and when she took them off his head, she decided she'd ask Teddie to make a set for him. It was just for fun, anyway! Maybe Teddie would make an appropriate pair for him, wouldn't that be strange...?

* * *

[6/22: Wednesday]

Nanako had been given only three days to plan the birthday party. Not that there was much to plan. All she'd basically had to do was call everyone up except Yosuke and tell them to get him something and to be available after school this Wednesday. "Doesn't have to be much. It's just Yosuke, after all."

They were having the little party at the picnic table at the flood plain. Nanako was there first, of course, as the event organizer. She'd been the one to buy all the decorations. Not at Junes, because she couldn't risk being caught buying the stuff there by the birthday boy. A party-focused store at Okina City had served her purposes well. Now she was spreading a dinosaur-themed tablecloth onto the picnic table. Yes, dinosaur-themed. She'd seen it at the store and just had to buy it. Yosuke, Souji, same difference.

Souji was her co-organizer, anyway!

"Put that down right here!" she told him. Souji obediently climbed the bench and set the weight attached to the balloons on the tablecloth to help it stay anchored. It was a tad windy today. At least it wasn't raining, although the weather was cloudy.

Originally she hadn't planned to go all out on decorations. It was just Yosuke! But Souji was going to be there, too, and, well... Now she was hanging up a multicolored banner with the words 'Happy Birthday' on it over the picnic table with the help of Souji's step stool and a stapler. There was a dinosaur on either end of the banner. Might as well stick with a theme!

She was still wrapping garland around the wooden frame of the canopy over the picnic table when the first guests arrived: Chie and Yukiko.

"Heya, Nanako," Chie greeted. "Oh! And it's Souji-kun!"

Souji smiled at her, and then he noticed Yukiko. To his credit, he didn't run and hide, but he did stare.

Nanako jumped to his rescue, anyway. "That's Yukiko, Chie's best friend. Yukiko is very nice. And sort of quiet, just like you. At least when she's not laughing, heh heh. Say hello to her."

Yukiko curtsied to Souji. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"H-hi," the boy murmured.

Chie took out an envelope that was wedged into the track jacket tied around her waist and put it on the table next to the two boxes already there—Nanako and Souji's gifts. Then she and Yukiko sat together at the table. After a moment she asked curiously, "Does Souji-kun know Yosuke?"

"Yeah," Nanako replied. She finished stapling the garland and then sat across from the two girls, and Souji joined her. "Well, they only just met last Sunday because I took him to Junes, but they both hit it off pretty well. I was really surprised."

"They're both boys." Chie nodded knowingly. "That's probably it."

"Well, I always thought Yosuke needed more boy friends," Nanako said. "Err, friends that are boys, that is. Though the other way is fine too, of course, heh heh."

Chie chuckled, but Yukiko didn't seem to get it. "Boy... friends?"

Nanako didn't bother explaining it to her. "Speaking of boys, Kanji-kun's here!"

"'Sup, senpai?" Kanji was carrying a white box under his arm. It was about half the size of a shoebox. It wasn't wrapped, but it had to be his gift. He set it on the table with the other two boxes and then sat next to Chie.

Souji's fingers dug into Nanako's arm. It started to hurt, so she pulled him into a hug. "H-hey, Kanji-kun, this is Souji-kun, my cousin. Souji-kun, that's Kanji-kun, and I know he looks scary, but he's made of pure sugar. Please calm down, honey."

"Aww, man, I scare children?" Kanji was so crestfallen that Nanako pointed it out to Souji. "Look, Kanji-kun's going to cry!"

Souji stared at Kanji, wide-eyed, for a long moment. "D-don't cry..." he eventually murmured.

"Nothin' wrong with crying, kid," Kanji said. "Sometimes a man's just gotta cry." His eyes caught Nanako's, and she realized he was referring to one of the manga she'd sent him. Heh heh... how cute.

"That's right, Souji-kun," she said. "If you ever wanna cry, you just let it all out, okay?" She hugged him tighter and he made a funny little whimper.

She told everyone they could have any of the soda cans she'd set on the table, and they spent some time talking about their favorite drinks.

Then Chie said, "So, uh, is that it?" as she glanced around the table.

"Well, I was thinking of inviting Saki-senpai," Nanako said, "but, well..."

"Yeah..." Chie agreed.

Honestly, the fact that Yosuke and Saki weren't especially friendly anymore was only half the problem. Nanako just didn't want Saki to go, 'Oh, so you're throwing a party for Hana-chan...?' in a suggestive tone of voice.

Well, since everyone was here, now all they were missing was the guest of honor. Nanako tried calling Yosuke, but he wasn't answering his phone, so she texted him instead, instructing him to immediately come to the flood plain.

It took a while, but eventually Yosuke replied.

_Working_

Yosuke's dad couldn't be that much of an asshole that he'd make Yosuke work on his birthday. Unless, maybe, they were gonna have a little party among the part-time staff. Nanako doubted it.

_You are not,_ she texted back.

He didn't reply to that. Had he caught wind of her plans and was now trying to avoid it?

_Get your ass over here or I'll find it and kick it!_

There was no reply to that, so she added, _I'm serious!!!_

_cming geez_

Several minutes later, Yosuke rode up on his bicycle. "Wh-what is all this?" he asked, taking in the sight of everyone gathered there and all the decorations: the banner, the garlands, the balloons and the three gift boxes on the table.

"Duh," said Chie. "It's a birthday party."

Totally dumbstruck, he almost fell off his bike. "Wha... For, for me...?"

"No, for Souji-kun," Nanako said, rolling her eyes. "He wanted me to invite you for some reason. Of course it's for you, ya big idiot!"

"H-happy birthday, p-partner," Souji said, hiding his face against Nanako's blouse.

The others followed suit. "Happy birthday, Yosuke!" "Happy birthday, senpai!" "Happy birthday, Yosuke-kun!"

"Sit down, Yosuke!" Nanako ordered.

In a daze, Yosuke parked his bike against one of the legs of the canopy covering the picnic area, taking a moment to look at the garland wrapped around it, and then took the seat where Nanako indicated—right next to Souji.

"Should we sing something?" Yukiko asked.

"N-no," said Yosuke. "I-it's fine..."

"We'll sing!" Nanako declared, and she led the song, to Yosuke's acute embarrassment.

"You guys didn't have to do anything like this," he said when they were through.

"We didn't have to, but we wanted to, okay?" said Nanako. "We're your friends, you know? And Souji-kun insisted I do something for you."

"Th-then I guess I should be thanking you, huh?" Yosuke patted Souji's head. "Thanks, partner." The boy blushed and made a sound that was almost a giggle.

"Open the gifts, man!" Kanji said. "I'm dyin' to see what everyone got you!"

"A-all right... Which one first, Nanako?"

"Well, I only know what I got you and what Souji-kun got you," Nanako noted, "so..."

"Mine's easiest and probably the worst," said Chie. "So mine first!" She handed Yosuke an envelope. As flustered as he was, it took him a fumbling while to open it. "It's just an envelope, sheesh!"

"S-sorry... There!" Yosuke finally tore it free. Inside was a gift card to a music store in Okina City. "Oh, thanks! Man... I know exactly what I'm gonna get with this! Risette's going to release a 'Ready for Summer' album soon!"

"Oh, you like Risette? Her voice is too high for my tastes." Understatement, Nanako added in her mind. "Did you know she's from Inaba? Anyway, I guess we'll go down the line. Yukiko!"

The addressed girl looked down. "Oh, umm, I didn't get anything..."

"What, not even like a free half hour at the hot springs?" Nanako clicked her tongue.

"You know I can't do that..."

"I was just kidding!"

"Oh, uh!" said Chie. "The gift card was from Yukiko, too!"

"That save would have worked a minute ago, Chie," Nanako told her. "Oh well."

"I-it's okay, Yukiko-san," Yosuke said. "I mean, it's just great that you came with everyone." His face was all red from embarrassment.

"Kanji-kun?"

Kanji handed Yosuke his box. Inside was a brown leather wallet. Yosuke opened it. "Look at the stitching on this thing," Yosuke marveled. "And it's got six card pockets and, oh, I think my phone can fit in it! Yeah, it does! That's awesome."

"I'm glad it fits, senpai," Kanji said. "I was just kinda shootin' in the dark there."

"There's a design on the front," Nanako pointed out.

Yosuke held it up so everyone could see. A stylized frog was stitched on it, surrounded by stitched leaves. He ran his fingers over it. "Man, Kanji, where did you get this?"

"...I made it."

"I'm speechless," Yosuke said. "You _made_ this?"

"W-well, I was makin' it for myself," Kanji admitted, "but then Senpai said it was your birthday comin' up, so... I just changed the design a little. Working with leather isn't as easy as cloth, but yeah, I can do it."

Yosuke stared down at the frog, which seemed to look back at him. The smile on his face told everyone how much he appreciated the gift.

After a long moment, Nanako shoved her box in front of him.

"That's... a nice sized box," Yosuke observed.

"Yeah," said Nanako. She chewed the end of some stray hair, then brushed it aside, annoyed at herself.

He shrugged and opened it to find an orange and yellow bike helmet. He held it in front of him and turned it over in puzzlement.

"Y-you should be wearing one," she murmured. Because he was always crashing and what if he was pitched off face-forward and split his head or something?

"Yeah, you're right," he admitted. "And it matches my bike! I'll wear it. I promise." He smiled at her, glad perhaps that she was thinking of his safety.

"Good!" she said. "And we saved the best for last! Souji-kun's gift!" She pulled the final box forward and flipped the lid.

It was a cake. 'Happy Birthday Hana-chan' was written in frosting on the top.

"You even got me a cake?" Yosuke was shaking his head. "I didn't expect any of this."

"It's just store-bought," Nanako admitted. "But the frosting is all Souji-kun, though I helped with the words. I'm warning everyone now: it will be a sugary death. He kinda went overboard with the frosting."

"I like frosting..." Souji said quietly.

Nanako began to divide the cake into six parts and served it out to everyone on paper plates. It was a marble cake because she hadn't known what flavor was Souji's favorite. "Man, I can't believe you're older than me," she remarked while cutting her own slice of cake into further pieces. "Life isn't fair, right?"

"Does that mean I'm the leader now?" Yosuke teased. "I'm kidding. I'm not gonna fight you for it."

"Whose birthday is next?" Nanako asked.

"Mine!" said Chie. "It's next month! At the verrrry end."

"Nanako will get you a meatloaf instead of a cake," Yosuke said.

"Probably both," Nanako agreed with a nod.

After further inquiry, Yukiko's birthday was in December, and Kanji's in January. Nanako informed them that hers was in October.

When Souji was done eating his cake, he held up the frosting-smeared plate and showed it to Yosuke. "L-look, it's a brontosaurus."

"Uh," said Yosuke. "It sure is, partner! I, uh, I definitely love dinosaurs, too."

Souji smiled up at him, and Nanako had a hard time hiding her impish grin.

"I really wonder how Nanako knew."

"Just eat your cake, birthday boy!" Nanako ordered.

When everyone finished their cake, it was time to wrap up the party. Yosuke began to move everything from his old wallet to the new one, and Chie helped Nanako take down the decorations. Kanji brought down the banner since he was tall enough to without using the step stool. After that, Chie and Yukiko gave Yosuke one last 'happy birthday' before excusing themselves, and Kanji followed shortly after. It was about time for dinner with their own families, after all.

"What do you think, Yosuke?" Nanako asked. "Best birthday, or best birthday?"

Yosuke seemed too embarrassed to answer.

"I'll take care of the clean-up," she said. "You have a great rest of the day, okay?"

"Y-yeah." He paused by his bike. "Umm... Souji, Nanako... Thanks. I mean it."

Nanako dismissed it with a shake of her head. Then she pressed the balloons into his hand.

"Ah, I don't really want the balloons," he said. "That's kind of embarrassing!"

She began to treat him to her DEATH glare, because it had been embarrassing enough for her to bring them here, but then he handed the balloons to Souji and she immediately forgave him.

"You have a great day too, partner, all right?" Yosuke told him.

Souji nodded solemnly, still looking at the balloons.

Yosuke secured his new helmet on his head and gave Nanako and Souji a wave before heading off.

* * *

It was too bad that Souji wasn't going to have a great rest of the day. He was just so happy right now, pulling the anchor weight up and down and watching the balloons sway, that Nanako almost decided to have them stay away from home.

She hated how his smile faded when she opened the front door. Yeah, he knew it was a Wednesday.

"There you are!" said Aunt Seta. "I was just about to call. It's not like you two to be out so late."

Yep, Aunt Seta and Adachi-san were at the dinner table, apparently waiting for them.

Nanako explained that she'd had a birthday party for a friend. Then she told Souji to put the balloons in his room. He nodded and quickly headed there to drop them off.

"It's so nice of you to include Souji. I'm sure you two had fun," Aunt Seta said. "But did you save room for dinner?" She smiled self-indulgently and then went to serve the meal she had cooked: shrimp tempura.

Souji returned and took his place at the table. Despite Adachi's presence, he seemed to be in a buoyant mood still. His face wasn't a frown, and he didn't stare at either his mother or the detective like he normally did.

The night took a turn for the awkward, however, when the house phone suddenly rang. Aunt Seta answered it, and soon her face twisted into a pained grimace. She began to gripe at the person on the other end of the line. "You've interrupted an important family dinner and I fail to see why this is my problem." There was a lengthy pause as the person responded, and then she said, "Do I look like a fucking taxi?"

Adachi's eyes narrowed and flickered at Souji in response to the language.

After a few more minutes of berating the person on the line, Aunt Seta hung up. She ran her fingers through her hair. "I knew I shouldn't have answered. I keep my cell off on these nights for a reason... Well, it seems like I've been voted to pick up a guest from the train station at Higashi-Inaba."

"Tough break," said Adachi. 

The woman sighed and shook her head. "Tohru-san, you are welcome to finish your meal. I suppose you'll have the kids as company... I have to be going. I'm very sorry about this."

"Not a problem," he said lightly. "I know how it is."

Aunt Seta shook her head again, then grabbed her keys from where they hung on the wall and headed out without further ado.

Without his mom there, Souji stared at Adachi without blinking. It obviously unnerved the man, because after a moment of enduring it, he told the boy he didn't have to stay if he wanted to go to his room.

Souji looked at Nanako, then down at his bowl, and then back at Adachi. "It's okay," he whispered.

Adachi leaned back in surprise. Nanako smiled to herself and then went back to eating.

"Uhh, by the way," said the detective after a minute or so. "I couldn't help but notice there's a friend here..."

He was looking at the fox plush perched at the end of the table.

"Oh, that's Foxie," Nanako said. "She's a thief, but also Souji-kun's best friend. I hope she isn't teaching you bad habits, Souji-kun!"

"N-no," Souji promised. "I'm a good boy... F-Foxie's been good, too..."

"Maybe you're teaching her instead, huh? I think she's happy to learn from you. Isn't that right, Foxie?" Nanako turned the fox towards Souji and had it say, "Souji-kun's taught me to love hugs!"

Souji was blushing, and Adachi snorted in amusement, which made Nanako blush self-consciously too.

"S-sorry, Adachi-san," she said. "I got a little carried away."

Adachi shook his head with a grin. "Keep going," he urged. "This is golden."

"Then... Why don't you give Foxie a hug, Souji-kun?"

The boy stared down at the table, very aware he was being watched. As the moment drew on, she worried he was going to refuse, but then he took Foxie and hugged her close. The little fox's head could be seen against the boy's neck.

'Adorable,' Nanako mouthed at Adachi, who nodded. If only she could take out her phone to take a picture without ruining the moment!

Then Souji replaced Foxie on the table, though he put the stuffed animal much closer to him than it was before.

"Souji-kun," Adachi said suddenly, "do you still have that fish? For the bath?"

Souji answered a long moment later in a whisper. "Yeah..."

"I helped his dad pick it out for him," Adachi confessed when Nanako gave him a questioning look. "It was between a fish and a turtle, and I dunno, I kind of liked the fish more..."

It gave Nanako an idea. "Souji-kun, why don't you show Adachi-san the sponges we got?"

The boy's eyes widened at the request. A long moment later he hopped down from his seat and headed into the bathroom. He returned with several of the dinosaur sponges that had come from the capsules she'd bought at Junes. He spread them out on the table. Some were still a little wet from the last time they'd had a bath.

"Cute," Adachi remarked. "Ah, there's even a couple of the flying ones."

"Y-yeah," said Souji with a noticeable smile.

"What happened to this guy?" Adachi poked at a yellow triceratops that had a big chunk of sponge missing from its back.

"That was me," said Nanako. "I bit it. Uh, it was the t-rex's fault. He got hungry."

Souji patted the 'wounded' triceratops and said he'd get better.

"Unless the t-rex gets hungry again, eh?" Adachi chuckled.

"I'll make sure to feed him," Nanako promised. "By the way, Adachi-san, what's your favorite dinosaur?"

"Eh, I like the velociraptors," he said. "They're small, you know, but you get a bunch of them together and I bet they could take a t-rex down!"

"R-really?" Souji asked.

"No way they could!" Nanako argued in mock disbelief. "They're only about as tall as Souji-kun, and a t-rex could be as tall as Junes!"

"So? They can climb up its back!" Adachi claimed. "And maybe they could get some help from the flying guys. They could do an airlift."

Souji's eyes were sparkling as he imagined that scene.

"Yeah," said Adachi. "Don't underestimate the little guys, right Souji-kun? They've got cunning."

"Yeah! I've got c-cunning!" the boy declared. Then he paused and looked meekly at Nanako. "Big sis... what's that mean?"

"It means craftiness," she said. "Kind of like a mix of smarts and sneakiness wrapped together. I'm totally cunning, and so's Foxie. You, though... I think you're charming instead. Oh! Tell Adachi-san the word you learned yesterday."

"Com...patriot!" Souji enunciated slowly. "I-it means... friend."

"Heh, I know Nanako-kun has plenty of friends," Adachi said.

"Yep, and after today, Souji-kun has met them all!" she said. "And that means that Souji-kun now has lots of friends too!" She moved out of her chair to give Souji a long and very cuddly hug.

Adachi began to chuckle. Hearing it, Nanako let go of Souji to grab Foxie and toss the stuffed animal at him. He caught it reflexively and gave her a confused look.

"Foxie wants a hug, too, Adachi-san!" she cried. "Give her one!"

For a police detective, he had a poor poker face. He was totally embarrassed by her request, but ended up complying, if only to appease her. He awkwardly held the animal to his chest, and then put it back on the table near Souji, patting it twice. "Eh... heh..."

Nanako smiled at him, and Souji was sort of just looking up at him in quiet surprise.

"What about all those dinosaurs?" Adachi asked. "Do they all need a hug, too?"

"Oh! What do you think, Souji-kun?"

Souji blinked down at the dinosaur sponges still on the table. His face screwed up in thought. They were wet, so if he hugged them, his shirt would get wet, so he couldn't do that... He picked up Foxie and had her move over each of the sponges, one by one.

After that display, Adachi announced that it was about time for him to leave. He sounded regretful, and even Souji's face softened with disappointment.

They saw him to the door, and Nanako bid him goodnight. Souji waved him goodbye like a good little boy.

While she was putting away the dinosaur sponges, Nanako thought that maybe someday soon, Adachi would be Souji's compatriot, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Souji doesn't have a canon birthday date, so I'm not sure if we will eventually have a party for him. 
> 
> Next Chapter: Feels Like Progress
> 
> Working with Naoto makes Nanako think that maybe they're actually getting somewhere in this case.


	22. Feels Like Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako and Naoto map out the range of the TV World's influence in Inaba. The DEATH Squad splits up to monitor traffic throughout town, and Yosuke makes a big mistake with Souji-kun.

[6/23: Thursday]

Just as he'd promised, Naoto was waiting for Nanako by the school gates on his motorized bicycle. It was a sleek bike with a blue frame. The frame extended over the rear tire, allowing room for a passenger in the back. A wooden box was attached to the front of the bike, but it was closed at the moment.

Naoto inclined his head in greeting. He was wearing an undecorated metal helmet. His clothes were the same aqua shirt and yellow tie as he'd been wearing on Tuesday. "Nanako-san."

"Shirogane-san!" Nanako enthused. "How are we going to do this?"

The detective handed her a helmet that matched his and then opened the wooden box on the bike. He took out a small LCD television screen and asked her to try putting her hand in it. She did it covertly, since there were other students leaving the school around them. It went through the screen with no difficulty. 

Naoto stared at her hand for a moment before clearing his throat and speaking. "We will head west, and every mile we will stop and try until you can no longer... do that." He moved onto his bike and indicated that Nanako should get on behind him. The metal frame wasn't very comfortable to sit on, but Nanako bore it because she was going to be riding with the Detective Prince! She hoped he was a good driver, unlike, well, Yosuke. Oh, man, what if Yosuke saw them...? He'd be so jealous.

...Now Nanako wanted to squeeze up right against Naoto's back! But she wasn't sure she could do it without being creepy. At the same time, if she could get away with it, she didn't care if it was creepy at all.

"Are you ready?" Naoto asked. "You can hold on, if you feel the need."

Did she ever! She put her hands firmly on Naoto's sides. Gosh, this boy had a thin body frame. She'd wanted more time to marvel at the fact that she was touching him, but then he started pedaling.

Despite the bike being motorized, they weren't going very fast. In fact, Nanako didn't really even need to hold on to him, but of course she continued to do so anyway. No point denying it now.

They drew to a stop just a short while later. Naoto handed her the small TV and she put her hand in without any problem, and soon they were off again.

To while away the time between stops, she began to talk to him. "Shirogane-san, are you curious about what's in there? In the TV?"

"Yes?" Naoto moved his head slightly, but kept his eyes on the road. At this proximity, she could see how steely gray they were. Very similar to Souji's, in fact. "Is there something more you have yet to tell me?"

"I said that the TV World is dangerous, but I never really told you why." Nanako went on to explain the disorienting feeling of falling into the TV, and how the fog obscured their vision and tired their bodies.

"I've noticed that," he said. "When running some simple tests on the samples of fog you gave me. Looking at it for too long gave me nothing short of a headache. But when I worked with the glasses on, I had a much easier time. It was very strange, to say the least. I thought it was psychological, but I like to believe that I'm above mind tricks of that sort."

"Yeah, the glasses are important. Without them, we got tired easily in there, like we were trying to jog at a higher elevation than our bodies were used to. A lot of things don't make very much sense in there. The sky, for example, is just a bunch of red and black lines spiraling around in a vortex. There doesn't seem to be a sun, or any light source, but it's still light enough for us to see."

"Red and black lines?" he repeated. He looked up at the sky as if imagining that, but it was a cloudy day. "Our sky is blue due to light scattering. It should not be possible for it to be two distinct colors like that. And spiraling?"

"You can get dizzy watching it!" 

He pulled to a stop so that they could test the television once again. While she had her hand in the TV, he asked, "So the danger in this TV World is the exhaustion?"

"It's part of it. The true danger is the Shadows." Nanako emphasized the word so that he would catch that it was a proper noun. "When you enter the TV World, your suppressed emotions can leak out and give rise to a doppelganger, a thing that takes on your form. It's not you, but it is you at the same time."

"That is an oxymoron, Nanako-san," he pointed out. He mounted the bike and indicated she should get back on.

"I-I'm not done explaining it, Shirogane-san!" she protested. She put her hands on his sides in subtle retaliation. "This Shadow comes from you, and so it knows your deepest, darkest secrets, and attacks you with that knowledge. It looks like you, and it surprises you, and you don't want to hear any of the words it says, so you deny it, and then it really attacks with the intent to kill." She explained that it had happened to all of her friends, except Yukiko who had been able to accept her Shadow.

"So the TV World has a psychological element to it as well," he mused. "I recall you said that the world forms these dungeons that are based on the victim's psyche."

"There are other Shadows, too," Nanako added, "normal Shadows that aren't doppelgangers. They're like monsters, but they come from human minds too. Or at least, that's what we think. Like, Kanji-kun has problems with the police, and his dungeon created Shadows that look vaguely like policemen. They're what's dangerous—they attack people, and unlike the doppelganger Shadows, they can't be reasoned with. If you can't destroy them, they will kill you."

Naoto's eyes widened and he slowed in pedaling. "Do you mean to say that every time you go into the TV World, you are fighting for your lives? Did I send you into danger in asking you to map it out?"

She shook her head. "The Shadows tend to stay in the dungeons, so we were fine. Not only that, we aren't defenseless. I mean, I have Izanami and my naginata. I know how to defend myself."

"You have what...?"

Nanako laughed lightly. Yeah, this was going to take a while...

* * *

"So your Persona is with you right now...?" Naoto asked.

They'd mapped out half of Inaba. The cut off point had been outside the city limits, in the middle of a field with some leafy crops in it. While riding with him, Nanako had told him all about Personas, Shadows, Teddie—almost everything. Now they were at the top of a cliff that overlooked the town. The buildings far below them were casting long shadows; the sun was starting to set. They were stopping for the day and planned to finish the job tomorrow.

"Yep. I can feel her there," Nanako said, tapping the side of her head, "along with the others, but I can't bring any of them out here in the real world."

"You should try it on a foggy day," he suggested with a wry smile. "Perhaps the fog is a catalyst."

"Yeah, but we know it's not the same fog."

"That's true..." He sighed and shifted his weight against the guard rail. "To think that someone is selling weapons to high schoolers. That sounds both highly dangerous and highly illegal."

"Don't forget the armor!"

"Of course. May I ask why a naginata? There are weapons with more stopping power. A gun, for example." Yes, she had noticed early in the ride today that the detective was packing heat. The boy's gun holster was hidden under his aqua shirt.

"Well, guns are definitely illegal!" she said. "I wouldn't ask Daidara-san for that. I don't know if he can make a gun, anyway... but knowing him, he probably could. Anyway, the naginata just felt right. Like I used it a long, long time ago, or something. And I'm pretty good with it! Well, when I'm not dropping it, heh."

"Your skill with a naginata must be a sight to behold," Naoto murmured. "Forgive me if I don't ask for a demonstration."

Nanako laughed and patted his shoulder in a friendly way. "I'm surprised you're so reasonable about this! You know, Shirogane-san, I wonder what your Shadow would say."

"I have my own insecurities," he admitted, "but with luck, they won't surface anytime soon. I don't intend to be a target. I must admit that the TV World fascinates me, but I would still prefer to stay in the realm that I know."

"I'll take care of the TV World, I promise!"

She saluted him, and as he looked back, that shattering sound filled her head. Fortune. She decided that instead of messing with the Detective Prince, she'd rather keep watching the sun slowly disappearing behind the faraway mountains and enjoy the moment with him.

* * *

[6/26: Sunday]

The plans to watch traffic had been delayed to Sunday due to a heavy thunderstorm taking place on Saturday. On the bright side, although the Midnight Channel had aired, no one had been depicted on it—only a blank screen. According to Yosuke, there had been nothing of interest in the news lately: no TV interviews or special reports.

Nanako split everyone into teams: Chie would go with Yukiko and stay near the road by the Amagi Inn. Yosuke would take Souji and observe the vehicles near Junes and its parking lot. That's right, Souji was on the case now, too.

"What do you think, partner? You wanna hang out with me all day?" Yosuke asked. In lieu of an answer, Souji took his hand, and then they were off to Junes, their appointed location.

Yep, Nanako thought, watching them go—it would be a fun day out for him!

She turned to Chie and Yukiko and told them not to get too distracted. Chie frowned at the comment. "What do you mean?"

"Hot springs, duh," said Nanako. "I know Yukiko's invited you before."

"Sheesh, Nanako!" Chie said. "Is that all you think about?"

"Yes," Nanako replied, and stuck her tongue out at her playfully.

Chie shook her head and then took Yukiko towards the nearest bus stop.

Now Nanako was alone; Naoto and Kanji had already been off before the group met. They were going to watch traffic across the bridge over the Samegawa.

She sighed. Her task was the central shopping district... Gas station part-time job, go... It was great that she could earn money while investigating, but...

Izaya didn't seem to be present, and the gas station was fairly busy compared to how it was during the week, so Nanako actually had to do her job and pump gas and clean windows and whatever else the customers wanted. Every time a truck stopped by, she found it on her clipboard which held a copy of the list of trucks in Inaba and marked the time, the direction the vehicle headed off after stopping, and what service the driver had wanted.

"I think your shift is over, my friend. And yet you're still here."

 _I'm not your friend, Izaya-san._ "I was hoping to work a double shift," she claimed. "I bought a birthday gift for someone this week and I need to make up the money!"

"Is that so? Well, I could always use your assistance..."

With Izaya around, it was much easier for her to give attention to her clipboard—she had missed a truck earlier, despite her best efforts. However, she caught Izaya looking over shoulder once, and she didn't really know how to explain what she was doing. Her impromptu explanation was that she was working on a school project. He seemed incurious after that.

The job had been rather uneventful until she overheard a couple bickering over the beer the husband had bought from the convenience store. She was cleaning the window of a car when she noticed that Izaya, who was working across from her, had stopped in mid-wipe. He was shooting the arguing couple an unfriendly look. "They won't remain together much longer," he commented.

"If they get drunk together, it might be okay," Nanako said. "He did buy a lot of alcohol, after all."

"I wonder how long they've been together," he mused.

"Well, I don't see any kids."

"As if it matters. Even the most loving of partnerships can end in bitter betrayal," Izaya finished.

He wasn't listening to her at all. Nanako watched in fascination as Izaya quietly reminisced.

"Men are terrible," he muttered.

"Uh, Izaya-san...?"

"Revenge is a dish best served cold, don't you think?" His red eyes glittered strangely at her. She sensed that he might be testing her.

But even Kanji had said his goal in capturing the killer wasn't revenge. "Justice is more important," she told him.

"Oh? And if the vengeance is justified?"

"I... I think I need more details, Izaya-san," she said carefully. "What happened to you that you'd want to get revenge for?"

"To me?" Izaya shook his head and chuckled. "It was just a question. I was... curious how you'd respond."

She didn't believe him for a second. She wondered what sort of betrayal he'd been through. Business or romance? It was hard to say. She couldn't imagine him in a relationship with anyone she knew.

"It's easy to pass judgment, Izaya-san," she finally said, "when you aren't the person who's been hurt. I could tell you to let it go, that revenge would only lead to more revenge, but I'm not sure I'd even be able to do that myself, depending on how hurt I'd been."

He smiled at her, and for once it seemed more smile than smirk. "You're honest, Nanako. I like that. It'll be interesting to see..." He trailed off as a scooter approached.

"Aika-chan!" said Nanako. "You need gas?"

The helmeted girl on the scooter nodded. "All the way."

After servicing Aika's scooter and seeing the delivery girl off, Nanako returned to Izaya's side, but the man was done talking. He seemed to be brooding. She tried chatting with him about the weather, but all he did was scowl at the cloudy sky. "No rain today. You should have been here yesterday. The storm was glorious."

"Yeah, I kinda stayed home all day," she said, "and did my homework. Rain's fun to listen to, made it relaxing, I'll give you that much. By the way, Izaya-san, I think if you glare at the clouds long enough, you might be able to intimidate them into raining."

He pulled his gaze from the sky to look at her, and then burst out laughing. His entire body shook with such force that he had to hold onto the nearest gas pump to keep his balance. Tears began to roll down from his eyes as he continued to laugh.

Uh, her comment hadn't been _that_ funny!

"Oh, dear," he said while wiping his eyes. "Ah..."

She scratched her head at him. His laughter was... creepy, but it cheered her up somehow. Like the sun had suddenly pierced through the clouds, even though it totally hadn't. He was such a weird guy, but not that bad, not really.

* * *

As the afternoon wore on, the traffic began to slow down, and soon enough she received a call from Naoto requesting her to collect the data from her friends and bring it to him. She sent a group text to everyone else to meet at the flood plain. Since she was already at the shopping district, she brought some takeout so that they could have an unplanned picnic.

She found Chie, Kanji, Yosuke, and Souji standing near the picnic table, apparently discussing their results. She joined them and asked for a report.

Chie told her that Yukiko had stayed at the inn. "There wasn't much traffic out there, honestly. It's a bit far from town. But here's what we got, anyway."

Nanako took the checklist from her, and yeah, there weren't too many trucks marked on it. But she didn't care if the results didn't pan out—since the culprit had struck twice there, the Amagi Inn was a very important location.

She turned to Yosuke next—Kanji didn't really have to report to her since he'd been working with Naoto, and she'd see the detective later.

"We had to move a little bit away from Junes," Yosuke said. "It bothered my dad to see me around but not working for him. He didn't want to believe that I was babysitting, even with the evidence."

"Hmm... Souji-kun, did you have fun?" she asked.

"Y-yeah!" the boy said. "I told him all about the t-rex that's big as Junes!"

"Kid loves dinosaurs," Yosuke said with a smile. "He did get restless after a bit, so we walked around. He can be bossy, too, did you know that? He wouldn't follow me, I had to follow him!"

"D-didn't want to go where you were going..." Souji murmured.

"I guess he doesn't like going near the police station," Yosuke added. "I thought we could go around there since it's on the same road that Junes is on, but, err... Nanako?"

"The... the police station?" she repeated. "You were going to take Souji-kun to the police station."

"Well, it's a busy enough place, so I thought, err..." He stopped, puzzled at her furious expression, and then it finally dawned on him. He took a step back. "Oh! Oh crap! I... I didn't mean to..."

"Yeah," Nanako said. "Yeah, whatever."

Souji was looking down at his feet. She gently took him by the arm and led him to the picnic table and sat down with him. She wrapped her arm around him with one hand and silently began to pass out the takeout boxes with the other.

Chie gave Yosuke a hard look before taking a seat. Kanji glanced between them in confusion, then shrugged and took his box and sat next to Chie.

"W-well, umm," Yosuke said, standing there awkwardly. "We ended up going north a bit instead, closer to our school. The warabimochi truck came by and I bought him some." He sounded like he was asking if he'd done at least something right.

"Did you get the truck's number?" Nanako asked, not looking at him.

"I... I did, actually," Yosuke replied emphatically. "But I kinda doubt the culprit would use such a conspicuous truck."

"If it's the guy I'm thinking of," Kanji interjected, "he's been selling warabimochi out of that truck since the dawn of time."

"And Souji-kun, did you like the warabimochi that Yosuke got you?"

The boy nodded. "It was sweet and... I liked it."

"Well, I _guess_ that's good," Nanako said with a sniff.

"Wish that dude would come by now," Kanji said. "It's the greatest!"

"Just eat your hiyashi chuka!" Nanako growled. "I bought it for you myself!"

"It doesn't have enough meat," Chie complained. "You ordered from Aiya but got a chicken dish? Nanako, you really are something special. I mean, chicken's fine, but I'd rather have beef!"

Nanako glared at her, but Chie had a teasing smile on and was totally eating the food anyway. She was trying to lighten up the mood. Nanako shook her head and yelled at everyone to eat, too pissed at Yosuke to really care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warabimochi is a sweet snack that's most popular in the Kansai region of Japan. It's apparently like a jelly and often eaten during the summer months.
> 
> Next Chapter: Creamy Skies
> 
> Nanako checks in with Saki-senpai, among other things.


	23. Creamy Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Naoto's request, Nanako and Kanji get a check-up at the hospital. Saki has a bit of a falling out with her family.

[6/27: Monday]

"And the results are..."

Nanako waited with bated breath. Kanji, seated next to her in the hospital waiting room, was equally nervous. His fingers curled under his hands when Naoto had started speaking. Nanako, too, was worrying her lower lip while the detective took his damn sweet time consulting his clipboard.

"You're both perfectly normal," Naoto finished. "But thank you for indulging my curiosity, at any rate."

"Dammit, man," Kanji said, "you almost gave me a heart attack!"

Naoto had asked Nanako and Kanji to get a check-up at the hospital. 'Purely precautionary,' he'd said. Who knew what effects the fog in the TV World had on the body? Nanako had been afraid to find out; by now she'd breathed in so much of it that if it was dangerous, it was probably too late.

But apparently there was nothing to worry about.

"Aren't medical records supposed to be confidential?" Nanako pointed out. "What the heck are you doing with them? I was expecting a doctor to come out and see us."

Naoto blinked, not understanding the issue. "Of course I had to see the results myself to confirm them. The doctors found nothing unusual with either of you. Although..." He looked from his clipboard to Kanji.

"Wh-what?" Kanji asked. "Just tell me, dammit!"

"The X-ray scans discovered that some years ago your left distal finger was broken and had not been set properly."

Kanji stared down at his left hand in confusion.

"Your pinky," Nanako said helpfully.

"It is a little crooked," he admitted, holding it up for display. "But I don't remember ever breaking it."

"You may not have realized it was broken at the time," Naoto said.

"Huh," said Kanji. "I did slam it in the sewing box once..."

Nanako asked the detective to hand over the records and spent some time perusing them. Several types of blood tests had been done, as well as urinalysis. Their heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and other physical aspects had been tested too. Naoto had been rather thorough in his requests, but that was just par for the course.

...Wait, were those her bust and hip measurements!? She gasped, immediately switching to Kanji's file. Unfortunately, they hadn't measured what was most important.

"Would be funny if we could do an X-ray on Teddie," Kanji remarked, completely ignorant of the fact that she was checking out his records. He was looking at a printout of the X-ray of his left hand that Naoto had given him. "Wonder what that costume would show. He calls it his body, you know."

"Teddie is another aspect of the TV World that fascinates me," Naoto said. He took a seat at one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs and faced Nanako. "Who and what is he? Is he even a 'he'?"

"His voice is masculine enough," Nanako reported. "If childish. He doesn't seem to know anything about himself. I'll be honest, I haven't really bothered to ask him too many questions. After the fifth 'I dunno' you kind of lose hope."

"He said he 'grew' his body. Could you... obtain a sample of his... fur for analysis?" Naoto's eyes glimmered with barely-subdued eagerness.

"I dunno," said Kanji. "He doesn't like bein' touched. Or maybe it was just me. He backed away when I asked to pet him, man..."

"Yeah," said Nanako. "I don't know what was up with that. He was pretty fast to trust the rest of us—I've already pet him a few times—and he then he got all scared of you for no reason."

"Even strange people like him have a hard time accepting me..." Kanji couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

"Maybe he sensed that you work with fabric and thought you might want to skin him. Or maybe he was just being a jerk," she conceded. "Like I said, he's a bit childish, and also kind of useless when it comes to information about his world, but at the same time... He reminds me of my little cousin, Souji-kun. He has that air of innocence about him. I feel like he isn't hiding anything. He really doesn't know what he is."

"Senpai, speaking of Souji-kun," Kanji said. "Why's the little dude afraid of the police station? You were so pissed at Yosuke-senpai yesterday, even I was scared for him!"

Nanako explained that Souji's father had been a police officer. "His name was Sachio Seta, and he, well..."

"Oh, shit!" Kanji exclaimed. "I knew that guy! He wasn't a bad dude, for a cop. He even let me go when they brought me in for no reason once or twice." He bowed his head. "Terrible, what happened to him. That poor kid... Did Yosuke-senpai know?"

"Yeah, but he probably wasn't thinking." Nanako shrugged. "He is Yosuke, after all. And it's easy to forget about when you don't know Souji-kun that well." 

"The officers at the station," Naoto added, "seem to hold that name in some reverence. I've heard Seta-san mentioned on more than one occasion while I was there."

"Yeah, I never met the man," Nanako said, "but his influence reaches pretty far, it seems."

There was a reflective silence for a time.

"To return to a lighter topic," said the detective, pulling his anti-fog glasses out of his pocket, "this Teddie is quite the craftsman. I almost wish I needed glasses so that I would have more use for these."

"I might have him make a pair for Souji-kun to play with," she agreed. "Last time we were there, I told him to make stuff. Uh, I gave him kind of free reign—didn't tell him what to make. Maybe we'll learn a lot about him when we go check up on him again just from what he's come up with. It's been since last week, so he's had a lot of time."

"What if he can only make glasses?" Kanji submitted. "We go in there and the stage is littered with glasses."

"I wonder if he can make correctional glasses, or glasses with abilities beyond clearing the fog," Naoto suggested. "Shadow-sensing glasses, perhaps. It could be worth looking into."

"I kind of doubt he'll be that useful," Nanako said. "He's kind of... well, actually, he is full of surprises. Kanji-kun, I never told you about my first trip into the TV World. Shirogane-san, you too. It was just the three of us: me, Chie, and Yosuke. When we first saw Teddie in there, we thought he was a monster, and we ran like hell away from him."

"You thought that cheerful-looking dude was a monster?" Kanji said questioningly.

"In my defense, I only saw his silhouette. He looked like a real bear. He even rawred at us! And then he started chasing us because he thought we were the ones messing up his world. And then we ran into trouble, a huge bunch of Shadows. And... Teddie jumped in front of us and made an exit TV and saved us." She paused significantly. "You know, I don't think I thanked him properly for that. We'd have totally died without him. It was before we had earned our Personas. Yeah, without him, it's really possible that we would've been hanging on a utility pole somewhere."

"It was rather brave of him to intervene as he did," Naoto noted, "considering he has no fighting abilities."

"Yeah, you poke him and he just falls over. I wonder if I should bring him some honey or something."

"Bring him a Topsicle," Kanji suggested. "He's like a kid, so... Kids love Topsicles. Hell, I love Topsicles, heh."

Nanako looked at him slyly. "Oh? I'll remember that."

"I would like to meet him," Naoto remarked. "And question him myself."

"Oh! You can talk to him through the Junes TV!" Nanako said excitedly. "As long as one of us opens the door. If you really want to, we can even go there now—"

Naoto's eyes narrowed at her shrewdly. "...You simply won't rest until I enter a television, will you, Nanako-san?"

She looked back in affected alarm. "What, no! I don't throw people in there... anymore... Rule #1, right, Kanji-kun?"

"Right, Senpai," said Kanji, oblivious to the madness.

The detective shook his head with a smile. "I might have to mark you as incorrigible, Nanako-san."

"You don't know the half of it, Shirogane-san!" she declared, glowing with shameless pride.

* * *

[6/28: Tuesday]

Yosuke asked Nanako out to lunch. Not as a date or anything—why was he always so quick to add that he never meant anything by it? It wasn't that funny.

They went to the school roof, where they both had bento for lunch. Yeah, neither of them cooked. At least Yosuke's bento was lovingly packaged by his mom. Nanako's was packaged by, well, whatever company stocked the school's vending machines.

On the bright side, Yosuke had bought her a Cielo Mist without her even asking. He was really taken with his role as team drink-buyer, heh.

But it was unnaturally quiet while they ate. Yosuke was just kind of playing with his food, pushing a piece of kinpira around with a chopstick. She stopped eating herself and waited until he spoke, because something was obviously on his mind. "Nanako," he finally said with his eyes downcast, "I'm really sorry about Sunday."

She had been sort of ignored him in class yesterday, but after thinking about it last night, she'd forgiven him.

"It's okay, Yosuke," she told him. "I was pissed, but... It's not like I haven't made the same mistake. Yeah," she went on when his expression changed, "my first day here, when Yamano died, I watched the news with Souji-kun right there, not thinking about how it might affect him."

"Ouch," he said. "That poor kid... He's too young to have it so rough."

"Tell me about it."

Feeling more relaxed now, Yosuke began to eat, so there was a comfortable silence for a bit. "It's pretty funny how we're all only kids," he noted, chewing on a bamboo shoot. "I mean, I don't have any siblings. Neither does Chie, or Yukiko-san, or Kanji."

"Yeah, that is pretty weird," she agreed. "I don't have any either. Just Souji-kun. And I've never really had to deal with kids before, so I'm kind of winging it with him. I love that little boy, though..."

"I can tell. He talked about you, you know. On Sunday. He doesn't talk very much, but he had a few things to say." He had a teasing smile on his face. "I think you're very important to him, too, 'big sis.'"

Nanako blushed despite herself. "I'm just trying to give him the attention he needs," she muttered.

Yosuke's smile faded. "By the way, I wanted to tell you... Saki-senpai has been calling out a lot at work. I don't see her very much anymore... but you're her friend, right? I was wondering if you knew, well, how she's doing?"

He still cared about Saki, and that was both kind of sad and sweet at the same time. "I haven't seen her in a while, that's true," Nanako mused. "I'll check up on her after school, how's that?"

* * *

Yosuke had informed her that Saki wasn't scheduled to work at Junes today (although he was, he'd added while making a face), so Nanako headed to the central shopping district, hoping she'd find the girl there somewhere. Saki wasn't in the streets, though, so she decided what the hell and entered the booze store. What was the worst that could happen, they call the cops on her for being underage?

No, as it turned out, the worst that could happen was she'd walk in on Saki and her father having a huge row.

"—why you can't be happy with what you have instead of being so ungrateful—"

"Ungrateful? You're the ones being ungrateful," Saki shouted back. "I've all but quit my job for you and you still bitch about it every chance you get! I'm just sick of it all—"

"Sick of you acting like what happens to the family is not your problem when—"

"Of course it's my problem, but it's your problem too and you just pile it on me as if I'm the cause and—

"If Naoki was here he wouldn't be trying to weasel out of this—"

"Don't you dare bring Naoki into this!"

"He took more responsibility than you ever will—"

Saki whirled, her school uniform skirt flaring out without her notice, and strode towards the door, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw Nanako standing there.

"Uh, Senpai," Nanako said with a nervous smile.

Saki's eyes narrowed, and then she pushed Nanako out of the way and exited the store at a brisk pace.

Nanako glanced askew at the girl's father, who was trembling with emotion. She waited for him to calm, and he collapsed backwards into a chair and wiped his face with a small towel.

She stepped forward. "Look, Konishi-san. I know you've lost your son and he was your world, but pushing away your only daughter isn't going to bring him back."

He blinked, apparently surprised by her presence. "Who are you? ...You don't know anything."

"I know enough—I know Saki-senpai cares about her family very much, but that family has been making it very hard to care. Maybe you could, I dunno, tone it down?"

"Get out," he ordered.

Nanako hurried out of the store, hoping Saki wasn't too far from it. The girl was not in immediate sight, so Nanako walked down the shopping district. The flood plain was kind of where everyone went when they were angry or sad, so she assumed that's where she was. The river's presence was always calming.

She didn't have to go that far, though. Saki was sitting on the bench at the bus stop at the southern end of the shopping district, her face buried in her hands. She wasn't crying, just... not wanting to look at the world around her. She didn't even notice when Nanako took a seat next to her, but she did jump when Nanako put an arm around her. "It's just me, Senpai," Nanako reassured her.

Saki sighed and moved her hands away from her face to reveal a bitter smile. "It's always like that," she croaked. "I hate going home, because they bitch at me for not being home more often. Just the most vicious cycle..."

"I told your dad he was being a dick." Nanako paused after that proud statement, calculating. "Uh, I hope that doesn't make things worse for you."

Saki snorted. "Nothing could make it worse. Don't worry." She leaned back against the wall behind them and sighed. "They don't approve of anything I do. Dating a boy in college. Getting my hair straightened. Working at Junes. They even bothered me for doing my homework the other night."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea. You know, I've stopped trying to figure them out. It was probably another excuse to get into an argument. I just turned off the light in my room and told them I was going to bed and ended up calling my boyfriend instead. You know, whispering into the phone using my covers as a tent."

"That is a really cute visual, you know!"

The wavy-haired girl gave Nanako a wary look, and then relaxed. "Yeah. It's too bad my boyfriend wasn't that supportive. He doesn't live with his parents anymore, so he can't sympathize too much. And it's like he doesn't know how to interact with me anymore ever since my brother died. I just want him to treat me like he used to and he doesn't get that... Parents don't get it either. Every time we talk, it always ends up being about Naoki. Like he was everything I should aspire to be, or something. Dammit, he was younger than me! But he was a boy, so he could do no wrong. But he wasn't p-perfect, either, a-and he didn't like helping out at the store any more than I did..." She trailed off with a sniffle.

"I never had a chance to meet him," Nanako said quietly.

"God, I miss him every damned day." Saki wiped her eyes on her uniform scarf. "He wasn't the most popular kid in school, but he was friendly and liked to tell funny stories, and he loved cream puffs. We used to get into fights over the cream puffs all the time because I'd eat the ones he bought for himself. Those damned cream puffs..."

Her eyes glimmered with more tears, and she blinked them away. Nanako squeezed her close in support.

Saki sighed deeply. "It just makes no sense. Why would anybody want to kill him like that? Who would do such a thing?" she asked, staring down at the scarf clutched in her hands. "W-well, it's not like you have the answers. The police haven't even found anything..."

"I don't," Nanako admitted, "but..."

"If you have something to say, Nanako, just say it. Don't hold back." Saki seemed tormented by her hesitation to speak. "I don't want anyone holding back because they're afraid to deal with me."

Nanako pulled Saki's head to her shoulder. "You know I'm not like that," she murmured. She stroked her friend's hair. "It's just... Senpai. I have some knowledge about the case. I'll tell you if you want to know, but you have to promise to keep it a secret."

Saki's dark gray eyes blinked up at her. "You know something...? Did you hear something at school?"

"Senpai, I... I've been working on the case with Naoto Shirogane. It might seem like it's at a standstill, but we're making progress. We believe the killer was a kidnapper, too. In fact, do you remember that weekend Yukiko Amagi went missing? And when Kanji-kun went missing for a few days? It's because they were kidnapped. They were recovered, but we're sure they were intended targets."

"Wha..." said Saki. "It's not over? I want the killer caught, but I don't want anyone else to go through what my family is going through!"

"We've foiled him so far—Kanji-kun and Yukiko are safe—and every time, we get that much closer to finding his identity. We're narrowing it down. I just... I don't want you to lose heart, okay?" Nanako squeezed her again.

Saki murmured her thanks.

"You can help, too, Senpai," Nanako added. "We think Naoki-kun was also kidnapped before he was killed. We think he was kidnapped in the area south of Junes. We only know the general area, not the specifics. Do you have any idea where exactly he might have been?"

Saki shook her head. "I can't think of anything. And that's weird. If he was planning on going somewhere around there after school, you'd think he would have walked with me at least as far as Junes. Maybe it hadn't been planned?"

"Or maybe he didn't want you to know about it?" Nanako suggested.

"It's possible," Saki conceded, "but not like him. I... I can't really think right now, but I'll try, Nanako. I might be able to think of something." 

Nanako patted the girl's back and then stood up to stretch her legs. Saki now had on a very thoughtful look. Knowing the girl was better now, Nanako bid her farewell and left her to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Precious Things
> 
> Will Nanako bite the bullet and join a school club to protect what's important to her?


	24. Precious Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chie proves that she's not a prude, the piano is threatened, and a toy is injured.

[6/29: Wednesday]

Yukiko stopped at Nanako's desk after school, which was fairly unusual for the girl. Chie wasn't around, and when Nanako asked, it turned out she'd gone to a track team meeting.

"You said during the camping trip that Mr. Morooka could help me," Yukiko murmured.

"Oh, yeah!" Nanako said. "I've been meaning to talk to him myself, but I've been so busy with the investigation. You get priority, though! Let's go."

Morooka was alone in the faculty office, sitting at his desk and marking the hell out of someone's paper with a red ink pen. "What do you want, Dojima?" he growled when they approached.

Yukiko flashed an apprehensive look at Nanako.

Nanako stepped forward. "Yukiko here is having some trouble deciding her future, and I thought you might have some advice on that."

His gargoyle-ish face took on a curious cast. His gaze roamed from Nanako to Yukiko. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner? Have a seat, Amagi." He pulled a stool out from under a nearby desk and set it before him.

Nanako grinned at Yukiko in a 'what did I tell you?' way, then asked the girl if she wanted her to stay. Yukiko shook her head, so she dismissed herself from the office. She could wait for them to be done talking, or try to eavesdrop, but that felt unproductive. She decided to head outside to the track team and watch Chie run.

Chie was just pulling up to a stop when she arrived at the track field. Since she was catching her breath, she couldn't speak, so she just waved at Nanako. Then she grabbed a sports drink from a cooler and downed most of it to refresh herself. "What's up Nanako?" she finally gasped out.

"Nothing really," Nanako replied. "Just thought I'd join you because we haven't trained in a while."

"Yeah, we haven't been hanging out as much as we used to, that's for sure. All those boys distracting you, huh?" Chie's tone was light; she was just teasing.

But it was sort of true. Now that Nanako thought about it, she and Chie hadn't spent much meaningful time together in a while. Hadn't the last time been eating out at Aiya? Man, that had been forever ago!

"Wanna walk?" Nanako asked. "Or run, since that's what this club is all about, right? I don't really wanna join the club, but isn't it okay to visit?"

"Yeah! Why don't you go get your P.E. clothes on and join me back here? We can race!"

* * *

Nanako lost the race. It wasn't even close. In the hot summer sun, the exertion nearly killed her, or so it felt. But her reward was showering with Chie in the locker room.

Heh heh. That hadn't even been planned!

Chie was a pretty good-looking girl. She didn't have much in the bust department and maybe wasn't all that curvy, but she had shapely, muscular legs and was quite toned overall.

"Pass me a towel, will ya?" Chie asked.

 _No, I wanna keep looking!_ Nanako sighed and handed the girl a towel anyway.

"You know, Nanako," Chie remarked while drying herself off, "you can join the track team. Mr. Kondo is the adviser and he's always nice. Works us hard sometimes, but he's a funny guy."

"Ah, I'll think about it," Nanako said. It would be nice to shower regularly with the other track girls, heh heh, but she didn't really want to commit to running in the summer heat on a weekly basis. Her Sundays with Chie were truly enough.

"I can guess your reasons for not wanting to join this club, but..." Chie began. "Why are you so hesitant to join clubs in general? Yosuke told me how you won't join the music club even though you play the piano. It doesn't make any sense, Nanako. You're so sociable and outgoing. You'd fit well in any club."

Perhaps it was telling that Nanako hesitated in answering. "I just find it difficult. You know."

"You don't even have to come every day!" Chie went on, waving her free hand through the air. The other was still drying one of her legs. "It's not a huge commitment or anything. All the track club president wants is for us to run three laps a week, and once a month we have a big meet-up that we have to go to. Sometimes we have sprinting contests there and it's really fun! Though I'm better at endurance running, myself."

Nanako turned off the shower. The knob squeaked as if protesting. Then she grabbed a towel of her own and wrapped her hair in it. With another towel she dried off her body. "I just. Don't like being told what to do," she eventually murmured.

In the middle of putting her clothes back on, Chie frowned at her shorts. "You have a problem with authority?"

"You haven't noticed yet?"

Chie rolled her eyes. "Come on, Nanako! Of course clubs are going to expect you to be at least semi-active. It's not that big a deal."

"It is. For me, it is." Nanako sighed and wrapped the damp towel around her body, not that she minded being exposed in front of Chie, then took a seat on a stool and watched her friend finish changing. "Look, I have a lot going on. I have to fix Souji-kun and solve this case. I have to earn money and deal with people and their problems. I don't want one more teacher bossing me around to do better on this or that."

"They don't boss you around!" Chie protested. "Not as club advisers, anyway. Honestly, most teachers are rather hands-off as advisers."

"Maybe not, but they give pep talks. Do I look like the kind of person that needs them? I'm the kind of person that gives them!"

"You have a point," Chie admitted. "Still, look at Ai Ebihara. She just loafs around the Balls Club all day doing nothing! You could do way better than her."

Balls Club? Nanako was interested now. "What is rule 2 of the Balls Club?" she asked.

"What?"

"Nevermind. What does this Ebihara girl do?"

"She's the basketball team manager," Chie explained, "but I hear the boys complaining about her a lot... well, some boys. Most just want to date her."

"And you think washing towels and polishing balls is my deal...?"

 _Well, the latter certainly is,_ said her inner devil.

 _Shut up,_ said her inner angel.

 _Think on the bright side,_ the inner devil continued, _with some luck, you might get to see them changing!_

 _Good point,_ the inner angel agreed.

She promptly shut them both up. God, she really needed Igor back...

"Well, the latter certainly is," Chie teased, and Nanako stared at her blankly for a good minute or two.

Nanako cleared her throat. "I suppose I could kick the Ebihara girl out..."

"I hear Ichijo-kun's team is really lazy. You could boss them around and whip them into shape, no problem~"

"Chie, when the heck did you get to know me so well?" Nanako's eyes were wide... and suggestive.

"We got close during the camping trip," Chie said, "don't you remember?"

Nanako was too stunned to respond.

* * *

[7/1: Friday]

Yesterday had been a great day to work on the piano because the music club hadn't been in session. Progress was going pretty well, actually, and Nanako had even played it without running into any problems that would make her want to ragequit.

Today, however, was a music club day. Nanako wasn't about to give up her work just because other students were around. Besides, the band wasn't too unpleasant to listen to when they finally got going. The only thing was that she couldn't play the piano until their practice was over, but that wasn't a big deal. She could focus on buffing up the keys. They were a bit discolored, after all. It didn't affect the sound, but appearances were important!

And it was something Yosuke could help with! It was nice that he'd volunteered to join her today. She was tired of having him just watch, so she showed him the proper way to clean the keys and set him to work on the end away from her.

"Never knew pianos were so delicate," he whispered while he buffed a key with toothpaste and a chamois cloth.

The band began to practice, so she could only nod at him in reply.

Today's music selection was traditional-styled pieces. Yeah, they were pretty good, but it was soon obvious that they were missing something.

The band captain called a halt. "Man, where's Takeru? We need that trombone!"

"He was in an accident, senpai, didn't you know?" said a violinist. "His arm's hurt, so he can't play for a while."

"Ooh, dang, we need him! Unless... where's Matsunaga? I know she's practiced a lot since last time. We'll need her to take his place!"

"She's probably practicing by the river as we speak," a flutist contributed. "Want me to go get her?"

"You'll miss a lot of practice yourself," the captain said. "But we do need her."

"I'll go get her," Yosuke spoke up. "That way no one misses out on practice. And I know where she practices."

Well, everyone knew where she practiced; the sound carried over the river. Nanako blinked at him. She hadn't expected him to volunteer like that. Maybe he was bored of cleaning keys. From what she could see, he'd done a passable job at it. She might not even have to go over those keys herself.

"Will you, Hanamura? Thanks."

"I'll be back," Yosuke told Nanako, though it was unnecessary. He winked at her before leaving.

It wasn't like she needed Yosuke or anything. The band provided plenty of company. She was able to get quite a few more keys clean and shining by the time the captain called a close to the club meeting.

Most of the members had filed out of the room for the day when the captain walked over to her. "Excuse me, Nanako-kun."

"Yeah?" she replied neutrally, not looking up from the key she was buffing.

"Your name isn't on the club roster, so you've never officially joined. I'm going to have to ask that you do." She didn't answer, so he went on. "We're all friendly here. We don't bite or anything. And we don't have too many members, so we're always ready to have a new face around."

"I told you that I'll think about it," she said.

"You've been thinking about it for over a month," he pointed out.

"No, I haven't," she retorted, gripping the chamois tightly. "I've been fixing the piano you tossed aside like junk."

"If it's taking this long to fix, maybe it is junk," he countered.

Nanako was stunned into silence because _he really didn't just say that!_ How the hell did this guy become band captain if he—

"And since we didn't—and don't—have a member who plays the piano," he went on, "there was—is—no reason to have it out here in the music room."

"That's not fair and you know it," she said, voice quivering in anger. "I said I'm thinking about it, and that should be good enough until I'm done fixing the damned thing! Because if I can't fix it, there's no point in me joining, is there?"

"I'm under the impression that it's pretty much fixed," he said, looking askance at the piano. "Otherwise you wouldn't be on the cleaning stage. Nanako-kun, I want a decision before the summer break, okay? If you don't join, we'll have to either put the piano away, or find someone else who will play it with us."

Nanako barked out some humorless laughter. "Fat chance! You said yourself that you don't have enough members as is. Put the piano away and I'll keep working on it in the storeroom. Or I'll take it outside and practice with Ayane-chan!"

"What is your problem?" he asked with a frown. "I'm not trying to be mean, but that piano is here for the music club, regardless of its condition. The school owns it. You should be in the music club to use it. That makes perfect sense to me. You even had it brought in here, into the club room..."

Their argument was cut short by Ayane squeaking from the doorway. "S-s-senpai! I'm so sorry I wasn't here for practice! I, I heard you needed me?"

"Ah, Matsunaga!"

While the club leader told Ayane about Takeru's condition, Nanako picked up her cleaning supplies and left the room. She stood just outside the door and fumed over the club leader's ultimatum. She'd never wanted to join band, and now she had a tangible reason why: that guy was a dick! On some level, she knew she was being stubborn and unreasonable about this, but...

Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder. She almost flinched and swatted it away in her anger, but it was just Yosuke. "It'll be okay," he said. "Don't force yourself to join if you don't want to."

Had he heard all that?

"But the piano," she muttered. "I don't want them to move it back into the storeroom. That'd be such a pain."

"Don't worry about it. Really. It won't happen." She had no idea how he could assure her of this, but he just said, "Trust me," and she decided what the hell, let him handle it.

* * *

[7/2: Saturday]

The kids were having fun playing kickball in the field outside the daycare building. Well, most of them were. A pair of boys were playing on the sidelines with a plush toy, one gray-haired and one brown-haired. Souji and a boy named Yuuta.

Nanako had almost forced the two of them to join the kickball game, but Souji playing with someone was something she'd never interrupt. And Yuuta was a pretty good kid, in her meager experience. Cheerful and outgoing, he tried to make friends with everyone. He could be a good influence on Souji-kun!

Let them play, she thought, and so she supervised the kickball game instead. As 'the Boss,' she made sure as best she could that every kid was included in the game and had the ball for a time. A little girl tripped and skinned her knee at one point, so Nanako had to send her inside the daycare building to get a bandage since she couldn't leave the rest of the kids unsupervised. She vowed to have one of her first aid kits on hand next time.

And before she knew it, the manager came out with the first set of parents; it was already time for the kids to go home. Nanako saw them off with hugs and smiles until suddenly an anguished cry rang out across the field. It had come from... Souji-kun?

He was crying. The sound wrenched her heart, and she immediately ordered the daycare manager to take care of the rest of the kids as she dashed over there to see what had happened to her darling cousin. The two boys were sitting on the ground, and between them was...

Foxie, missing a leg and a tail.

Nanako swallowed her own desire to howl. She'd had Foxie for as long as she could remember, and to see the toy like this...!

Yuuta was looking up at her with both guilt and tears. "It, it was an accident!"

She worked her mouth for a bit before speaking. "You know, it's okay. Souji-kun, Yuuta-kun, it's..." Then an idea sprang to mind. "We'll take her to the hospital, stat! Come along, both of you!"

She gently pulled Souji up and whispered against his ear that everything would be okay. He looked doubtful, but he stopped crying.

Then she gingerly picked up Foxie and her... her missing limbs... and put the animal in her school bag and hefted it over her shoulder. She took Souji with one hand and Yuuta with the other and marched them right out of the daycare, ignoring the manager who was yelling at her for taking Yuuta despite not being the child's emergency contact. Yuuta's mom was perpetually late, anyway. With luck, they'd be back before she arrived.

"Wh-where are we going, Miss?" Yuuta asked, holding onto her hand for dear life because she wasn't letting go.

She didn't answer, nor did she look at the boy, knowing she might end up glaring at him for being complicit in hurting her toy. Hell, it had been hard enough simply to give Foxie away to Souji-kun like she had. To have this happen...!

It took some time even at her brisk pace to make it to her destination. She opened the door and a little bell rang. "Tatsumi-san?" she addressed the lady seated on a cushion in the store. "Please tell me Kanji-kun is in."

Because... if anyone could save Foxie, it'd be Kanji!

Kanji's mother nodded. "Do you need to see him? I see you've brought some friends today!" Then she noted Nanako's serious face and the worried looks on boys' faces and said that they were free to go in the back and see him.

Nanako dragged the boys along into the Tatsumi family's living room, where they found Kanji hard at work on some sort of crochet project.

"Senpai?" he said upon looking up from his work. "Is something up? Huh, you brought Souji-kun and, err..."

Nanako brought out the torn plush toy for his inspection. His curious expression turned into one of empathy when he saw what had happened.

"Can you... can you repair her, Kanji-kun?" Nanako asked.

He was already opening a sewing box—possibly the one that had once broken his finger—and looking for thread that would match the plush's fabric.

"It'll take some time, Senpai," Kanji said softly. "Why don't you and the kids wait in the shop, yeah?"

She herded the boys into the store, and Tatsumi-san offered them refreshments while they waited. Nanako chewed one of her fingernails. It was about time to trim them again, really. She'd never been a fan of long nails, despite thinking they were really pretty and being a bit jealous of those who had them—they just got in the way too much!

Souji tugged at her skirt. "B-big sis... Mama's supposed to..."

It was past time for their ride home, and the boy knew it. Nanako shook her head. "I'm supposed to bring you home today. Your mom left a voice message." Well, she hadn't checked the content of the message on her phone, but she was pretty sure that's what it was.

"Oh..." The boy's disappointed face made her pull him into a hug. Then she noticed Yuuta watching, so she sighed and pulled him against her hip, too. Now it was a group hug.

After a moment, she tried to withdraw, but Yuuta was still clinging to her. Instead of breaking away, she indulged him and rubbed his back. Obviously both of these boys needed more physical attention than they got at home, and she was totally okay with providing it, though it was sad that she had to.

"You can keep hugging me," she told him, "but I gotta let the daycare know where you are," – she shifted enough to free her cell phone – "in case your mom gets there and wonders why you're not there."

Yuuta made an unpleasant sound similar to a cough. "I don't have a mom."

"You do too," Nanako replied. "I've seen her!"

"She's not my real mom..."

"I-is that so...?" She sighed. _If it's not one thing, it's another._ "Well, she'll still want to know where you are—"

"I wanna stay with Souji-kun! Can I, can I?" Yuuta looked up at her, but all Nanako could think about was her other stuffed animals and the danger they'd be in. It was an awful thought and she knew she was awful for thinking it, especially in face of the boy's hope, but...

"Sorry, Yuuta-kun," she said, "but I need to know what happened to Foxie first."

The boy looked down. "Sh-she was caught under my foot, and I tried to pull her out from under it, and... I'm s-sorry!" Yuuta was clinging to her skirt much like Souji was prone to do.

"Yeah," she said in a low voice. "Yeah, I ripped a blanket that way, too. Cloth isn't as strong as it looks, sometimes. Do you know now? Not to pull on it when it's caught?" Yuuta assured her that he wouldn't do it again. "All right, well, I can't take you home with me today, but I think maybe Souji-kun will have a sleepover sometime. Would you like that, Souji-kun?"

Souji had been quietly watching them talk. "S-sleepover?" By the questioning quality in his voice, he'd probably never had one before, nor even thought of it.

"Yeah," said Nanako, making it sound like it was nothing special. "But anyway, let me call the daycare, okay?"

Yuuta finally stepped away. He looked happier than he'd been a moment ago, so that was a small victory, at least. She was able to call the daycare, and indeed, Yuuta's stepmom, Eri Minami, was there and wondering where the boy was. The daycare manager put her on the line so that Nanako could explain. "We had an accident with a toy and I'm getting the toy fixed. I brought Yuuta-kun along since he was a key witness. I'll bring him back soon, is that all right?"

"Yes, take your time," Minami said. "I'm sure Yuu-kun doesn't want to go home, anyway..."

Nanako ground her teeth. She'd have to get down to the bottom of this, too, huh? She looked at Yuuta, who looked back evenly. He knew she was talking to his stepmom, even if he couldn't hear the words.

"You could even let him come home on his own," the woman continued. "He sometimes does that when I'm running late. I try to pick him up on time, but..."

"I'll take him home," Nanako said abruptly before hanging up.

Man, this was turning out to be the worst day. Really, how many awful parents did this town have!?

Tatsumi-san was looking at her. "Is everything all right, dear?" the older lady asked. "You're welcome to sit down anywhere."

Well, at least there was one parent who was awesome.

Half of the textiles shop was on a raised area covered in tatami room flooring. Nanako sat on the edge to this area and invited the boys to sit with her. She looked around the store idly and pointed out the array of colorful fabrics on display. "Souji-kun, did you ever decide your favorite color?"

She'd asked that so long ago. He had to have figured it out by now, right?

He looked down at his feet. After a long moment, he muttered, "I don't know..."

"Yuuta-kun, what's your favorite?"

"Huh? Uh, uh, blue!" Yuuta declared.

If it was blue, why was he completely ignoring the intricate blue banner hanging on the table just to their left? And why did he keep stealing glances at the flower display next to it?

She fixed him with her unamused DEATH stare, and he seemed quite surprised to receive it. "M-miss!?"

"What's your favorite?" she repeated in a no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Miss!" he wailed, blushing, but then he finally relented. "It's... it's pink..."

She grinned at him victoriously. "Pink is a good color," she assured him. "Don't be afraid to like it! You know, Souji-kun has a pink umbrella and it's his favorite!"

"Big sis...!" Souji whined. But Yuuta was looking at him with awe, so he whispered that he could bring it to the daycare next week.

The door to the back finally opened with a loud sliding sound. "Senpai!" Kanji called.

Nanako immediately stood up. "Kanji-kun?"

He walked over to her and presented the fox plush. She carefully took it in hand and looked it over. Foxie's tail and missing leg had been reattached. They were stitched so neatly that she had to look closely to even notice that they had ever been separated.

Foxie was also now wearing a miniature red bib. Nanako thumbed it and then gave Kanji a questioning look. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just something a li'l extra I thought to add."

"Kids!" she announced with a grand smile. "Foxie's all better, come and see!"

The two boys rushed to her side. She held Foxie towards Yuuta, whose look of relief made her forgive him for the accident, and then gave the plush to Souji, who hugged it so tightly that he was probably wasn't going to let it go anytime soon.

"Heh heh. And we all have to thank Kanji-kun. Kanji-kun! You're amazing, you know that?"

"Was nothin'," he said, his face turning as pink as the flowers Yuuta had been looking at earlier.

"Give us all a hug!" Nanako demanded. "A group hug. I know you can wrap your arms around all of us at once!"

"Wha?" Kanji emitted in complete surprise.

"And your mom, too! Come on, Tatsumi-san!" Nanako waved her over.

The bun-haired older lady walked stately over with a big smile of her own, catching their good spirits. Now Kanji really couldn't refuse. He shook his head, then opened his arms wide. The kids cuddled right up against his legs. Nanako put her arm around his right side, with his mom taking the left.

"Kanji-kun, you made my day," Nanako murmured into his ear. Maybe her admission was a bit louder than planned—

"And mine," said a voice from the shop's front door.

Kanji immediately withdrew from the hug, which almost unbalanced him since the boys were still holding onto him. Nanako frowned at the door and then laughed. Saki was standing there with her phone held up to her face, its camera aimed at them.

"Senpai!" Kanji protested.

"Send me a copy!" Nanako demanded. Then she laughed again. "Man, Saki-senpai, that's some perfect timing."

Saki spread her arms in a shrug. "I was waiting just outside for the right moment."

"Come on," said Nanako. "I expect that from Shirogane-san, not you!"

The wavy-haired upperclassman stuck her tongue out at Nanako and then left the store, looking at the picture on her camera with satisfaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foxie is taking the place of the shrine fox in this story, hehe. With the bib, all she's missing now is Macca leaves.
> 
> Next Chapter: Detectoring
> 
> Kanji learns some detective rules from a detective's daughter. Among other things, hehe.


	25. Detectoring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanji learns detective skills, the team studies together, Nanako confronts Mr. Morooka, and Souji colors.

[7/3: Sunday]

"Senpai, what are we doing here?"

Nanako and Kanji were at Okina City, barely five minutes in and already breaking the law by sitting cross-legged in the grassy area next to a fountain. At worst, a cop would show up and shoo the pesky teenagers away, or so Nanako assured Kanji when he seemed reluctant to sit down. For all his delinquent looks and language, he really was a sweet boy, wasn't he?

"Normal and abnormal," Nanako said. "I'm going to prove to you that there's no such thing."

"Uh, a'ight."

They sat there for nearly five minutes before Kanji finally coughed and asked, "And how are we gonna do this?"

Nanako turned to him with eyebrows raised. "By watching, Kanji-kun."

Kanji scratched his head but said nothing, waiting for an explanation.

"My dad is a detective," she started, scooting closer to him. "He's everything a detective's supposed to be, y'know? He even has a permanent stubble. I once tried to shave it while he was sleeping and it grew back after breakfast." 

She paused, reminiscing for a second, before continuing. "Anyway, he's that kinda guy, and he's taught me a lot. This is... this is something he taught me when I first noticed I was different. He knows less than you do," she clarified, "but I was a kid and confused and angry. It was stupid..."

"What happened, Senpai?" Kanji asked, letting Nanako lean on him without protest.

"Don't laugh, okay? I, uh... I sneaked into the boys' locker room in middle school."

"That doesn't seem so bad."

"Twice."

"Oh."

"I wanted to see them changing! There were some really cute ones in my class, and during spring cleaning they'd take their shirts off and wear their P.E. shorts, and hnnnng. There was one of those tiny windows on the wall and you could see the lockers from there if you put some boxes outside to stand on. I thought that, hey, usually it's the boys peeking at the girls, so no one would notice me, right? But boooooy, they did, they so did! Everyone was blushing, it was so funny.

"That was the first day. That night, I watched Loveline and the culprit used a trick with mirrors to fool the magical witch detective and—"

"Oh! I remember that episode," Kanji interjected. "It was so cool how she was talkin' to him and he said he'd keep doing crimes and then her only choice was to shoot him with her magical beam, but she'd been talkin' to the mirror and shot that instead and he got away."

"Doki!" Nanako exclaimed, holding to Kanji's arm tight. Her smile went from ear to ear. "That's the one! Yeah, so I watched that and had an idea. The next day, I got a few things from the warehouse at our home and raided Mom's jewelry boxes for mirrors. We had a few old ones too, but I couldn't take the big ones with me, someone would notice.

"Anyway, before P.E. I lockpicked the locker room door—oh don't look at me like that, I'm resourceful!—and set up the mirrors there. I nailed some to the walls too. There was this really cute kid I wanted to see changing the most, so after that I hid in the locker next to his, since there was nothing inside. I checked and I could see most of the room through the mirrors, including the showersssss~" She purred and pawed lightly at his forearm.

"Wow, Senpai..." Kanji said. "I'm not sure whether to be scared or amazed at your dedication. I mean, musta been some trouble having the mirrors all face each other somehow."

"Heh heh heh. Resourcefulness, Kanji-kun! That's my middle name. So yeah, when P.E. came I got to see a whole lot! Sadly, there was this stupid weenie that was super pleased by the new mirrors and kept adjusting his hair with them, and he saw me... I will never live it down. Mom doesn't let me forget, though she was pretty amazed with how far I went. And Dad... man, Dad gave me the lecture of a lifetime."

"You said he taught you somethin'?"

"Oh! Right! Sorry, Kanji-kun, I got carried away.

"Yeah, Dad was pretty pissed, but when so many people lectured me that what I'd done was wrong and blah blah blah blah blah b-l-a-h blah, I got pretty pissed myself! I started getting into fights at school... well, so they said, but it was mostly me kicking ass, 'cause see, the boys were all calling me a pervert. I punched and kicked for a whole week and then when they still kept saying it behind my back, I went and pulled their pants down—which was not all that unpleasant, mind—and then Mom and Dad had to be called in for like the tenth time, and suddenly Dad wasn't pissed anymore.

"He took me to a square just like this one and sat down, just like we're doing now. And he said..."

"Nanako!" she said in an exaggeratedly gruff voice. "In the field, all you have to rely on are your senses. Tell me, what's the sense that lets you take the most information in?"

Nanako closed her eyes. She could remember it perfectly...

"Uh... sight, I guess," the little but not at all innocent Nanako answered.

"That's right. Look at these people and tell me what you see."

Nanako looked for a few minutes, but there was nothing special. "It's just a bunch of boring people, Dad."

"Is that so?" Her dad laughed softly, then pointed to something. "What is that man doing?"

Nanako looked where her dad was pointing. There was this extremely suspicious-looking man with a bizarre mustache looking at every butt that passed by him. He was drooling.

Nanako was alarmed. "Dad! Shouldn't we call the police?"

Her dad smiled at her. "I did it when we got here, sweetheart. If he does something more before they arrive, I'll go over there myself."

Her dad was _so cool._

"And there," – he looked at something else – "what are those two women doing?"

Nanako followed his gaze to two women sitting together in a café. They were smiling and talking animatedly.

"They're hanging out," she said.

Dojima nodded. "Are they friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course."

But then she kept watching and noticed they were holding hands under the table. The taller girl kept glancing around, even as she laughed. They were uncomfortable...

"I saw that and so much more that day, Kanji-kun," Nanako said in her normal voice, "and ever since then, I've enjoyed watching people."

"Wait, that's it? Tell me the rest of the story, it was just gettin' good!"

Nanako smiled mischievously. "After we do this, I think you'll understand," she said. Being deliberately vague was so fun, no wonder old people did it.

"So!" she said firmly. "Get comfortable, 'cause we're people watching today."

Nanako was practically hugging Kanji, or his arm anyway, and this was his chance to push her away, but to her surprise, he didn't, nor did he show any hesitation when he said, "Fine, let's do it."

"Ever since we got here, that guy over there's been eyeing us up," she started, pointing to a man in a business suit messing with his cellphone.

"Want me to go punch 'im?" Kanji offered.

"No! Well, maybe... but not right now, that's not the point. Why do you think he's eyeing us up, Kanji-kun?"

"Because of how I look," Kanji answered gruffly.

"Maybe. But it could be because of how _we_ look."

"What? What's so weird about the way we look?"

"We could be boyfriend and girlfriend in this pose, you know. I'm just doing it because I want to, but we could."

Kanji immediately blushed, but to his credit, he didn't try to move away. "Shit's comfortable, that guy can get over it," he said, earning a thumbs up from her.

"That's lesson one, though. People people watch too. And just as they can watch us and make up all sorts of stories in their heads, so can we. But that guy, he's not watching us close. He has this disapproving expression every time he lifts his eyes from the cellphone, so he just glances. That narrows down the list of reasons he might be looking at us. That's lesson two. If we watch someone closely, we learn a lot about them."

"Ain't that a bit creepy, though?" Kanji asked. Nanako stuck out her tongue at him.

"So let's move away from that guy," she continued, "to that guy."

Said guy was sitting on a bench also by the fountain. Nanako noticed a bunch of stuff, but she decided to ask Kanji this time. "What do you see?"

Kanji looked at the guy, a teenager with black hair and glasses, with what might have been interpreted as murderous intent from an outside perspective.

"His back's all stiff," he began. "He's sittin' all proper with his legs closed, don't his balls hurt doing that? Uh, sorry, senpai."

"Kanji-kun, please. I am all about balls. Go on!"

"Well, he's doing all that and he has that serious face on, but he seems nervous. He's adjusting his shirt a whole lot, gonna end up missing a few buttons if he keeps it up. And the way he picked up his cell, looked at it for one second and then pocketed it again, ain't that weird?"

"Hey, you're pretty good at this. Maybe you, Shirogane-san and I could open up our own detective agency!" Nanako tousled Kanji's hair. Sitting like this, it was way easier than normal. "So we know that he's uptight but nervous. And if he's checking his cell like that—oh, there it is again—then he must be waiting for a call or a text message, which means...?"

"He's waitin' for someone," Kanji guessed.

"Pin-pon! Bet you he's waiting for his boyfriend."

Kanji nearly got up from the grass, but Nanako held on to him. "What? No way, Senpai!"

"Whoever loses has to buy the other something at Aiya's, aaaaand... take the Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge!"

"F-fine! I'll take you on that bet."

"All right! Now let's get back to work. Look at that couple over there. Are they dating?"

She pointed to a high-class looking girl about her own age. She had fair, wavy hair and wore a pink dress with a big ribbon across her chest and matching pink heels. Even from their distance away, Nanako could see she was accessorized with earrings and a bracelet. She was followed around by a boy laden with several shopping bags. He seemed to be struggling with their combined weight and bulkiness.

Kanji shook his head. "Nah, they're not dating, though that guy might hope so! That girl is Ebihara-senpai."

"Oh, so you know her." Nanako frowned in annoyance since that ruined the point of this exercise. Then she paused. "Wait, Ebihara? As in Ai Ebihara?"

"Yeah."

Nanako looked closer. This was her competition for the Balls Club manager position, after all! "Tell me what you see, anyway."

Kanji explained how Ebihara never looked at the boy when he spoke to her, how she hardly waited for the boy to catch up to her when she strode down the sidewalk, and how she continuously looked at other boys in the area as if gauging whether they could carry more bags than he could. "Senpai, she's not into him at all."

"But she's totally got him wrapped around her little finger. That's pretty funny." Nanako suddenly pulled on Kanji's arm. "Puppy!"

"Puppy!?" Kanji cried. "Where!?" He looked around frantically until he spotted it. A woman in heels was walking a dog along the edge of the grass. It was a small dog, but not actually a puppy. Nanako couldn't identify the breed.

"Tell me about her," Nanako requested.

"She's an older lady," he began, "maybe mid-thirties..."

"That's not old, Kanji-kun, but go on."

"Older than us, anyway, Senpai!" he defended. "I think... she doesn't want to be here."

"Hmm? What makes you say that?"

"Just... the look on her face. She keeps scowling."

"But what is she scowling at?"

He paused, watching the target shrewdly. "The dog."

"Why is she scowling at the dog?" Nanako pressed.

"Well, she's taking it for a walk. Maybe she's waiting for it to use the toilet and it's way too busy havin' fun sniffing everything instead of doin' its business and she just wants to go back home." He paused. "Or maybe she doesn't like dogs but it's her family job or somethin' to walk it."

"Can you think of a way we could confirm that? Without, y'know, going up and asking her."

"We can wait for the dog to go and then see if she's happier after it."

They waited, and the dog-walking lady moved close enough to them that they could overhear her talking to the dog. "Oh, just go, already!" she hissed.

"I think you got that one right, too, Kanji-kun!" Nanako whispered at him.

"Dog better not go near us or we're gonna be stuck smelling it," Kanji muttered back.

Fortunately for them, the dog saw a lizard and began to chase after it across the sidewalk. Its exasperated master was forced to chase after it herself. It was amusing to see her trying to walk fast in her heels.

"It's called a leash," Nanako remarked. "Might wanna invest in one."

They spent the rest of the afternoon watching several different sets of people in the area. When the sun went down, they finally got up from the grass. "My butt feels like a damn rock," Kanji complained.

"Mine too, ugh," Nanako agreed. Then she noticed something. "Hey, Kanji-kun, look over there."

Kanji looked, and his eyes widened in surprise. The guy in glasses from earlier was holding hands with another boy on the same bench. They leaned closer and, after looking around, kissed. Nanako saw their lips moving before and after. They'd confessed, for sure.

Kanji was silent for several moments.

"I think..." he finally said. "I think those guys are from our school."

Nanako looked again. Oh shit, it's true! She recognized them both from the corridors. In fact, she was pretty sure one of them was even from her class... More satisfied than ever, she smiled at Kanji.

"See? We're all normal."

"...Yeah. Yeah, I guess we are, Senpai."

* * *

[7/4: Monday]

Exams were two weeks away, but they'd had a lot to learn since the last set. Nanako wanted her summer to begin with a bang, or at least on a high note, with no worries about her scores or any of that, so she gathered her squad and they formed a study group just like before. Kanji declined to join them; as an underclassman, he didn't want to confuse his own subjects with those of his senpai.

It had been a while since they'd gathered together like this at the secret headquarters at Junes. Nanako immediately looked at Yosuke when she took her seat at the head of the table, and though he frowned at her, he went and got drinks for everyone without comment. Nanako's drink had a lot of ice in it, though—more ice than cola. If he was trying to get back at her somehow, this was totally the wrong way to do it. All she'd do is make him get her a refill!

"'Man is but a reed,'" Yukiko quoted. She lifted her head skyward. "Such a powerful thought..."

"No, it's a depressing thought!" Nanako exclaimed. "I mean, do you really wanna compare yourself to a reed?"

"If it gets windy enough out here, maybe we'll be blown away like little reeds!" Chie commented. The food court was on the roof, after all, and exposed to the elements. "Then it'll be true."

"I'd rather compare myself to, like... a god or something," Nanako continued on her own line of thought.

"You would compare yourself to that," said Yosuke, rolling his eyes and grinning. "But you didn't let Yukiko finish. There's more to the quote. You know, that man is a thinking reed. The 'thinking' makes all the difference in the meaning."

"Was I a man dreaming about butterflies, or am I now a butterfly dreaming I'm a man?" Nanako said. "That's what I get out of this."

Yosuke shuffled through his notes, then stared at Nanako. "Where did that even come from?"

"That's Zhuangzi, Yosuke-kun," said Yukiko. "Although misquoted. We learned it last year."

"Yeah, I never understood that one," said Chie. "No matter how many times Yukiko tried to explain it to me. I mean, if you pinch yourself, you'll know if you're dreaming, right?"

"Yeah, me neither," Nanako admitted cheerfully. "I just like butterflies. Especially the yellow ones we get by the river. One time one landed on Souji-kun's nose and—"

"And I'm gonna cut you off," said Yosuke, "because although it's cute, we need to focus."

"Your attitude is cutting into my morale, Yosuke!"

"That's a great use of the word 'morale,' Nanako!" Yukiko said in encouragement. "Mr. Morooka would be proud. Well, maybe."

"Yeah, Yosuke!" Nanako continued. "Are you feeling 'ressentiment' towards me yet?"

"Hate to tell you this," – Yosuke looked smug – "but 'morale' is the cheerfulness of a _group,_ not a single person. Soooo..."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

He snickered. "Anyway, smarty, who's the person who said that thing about reeds?"

She tried to refer to her notes, but he put his hand over them so that she couldn't flip the page. She had no choice but to guess wildly, because really, all the names she'd learned sounded the same to her. "Some foreigner!" she announced.

"Well, if you think King Moron will give you credit for that, sure."

Nanako scowled, because he definitely wouldn't. "...Let's just move on to math, okay?"

They struggled with the unit circle until Nanako regretted ever switching to that subject. Well, Yukiko didn't struggle. Was there any subject she wasn't good at? How the heck was she so good at math? Literature, okay, she always seemed the bookish sort, but…

"I often handle transactions at the inn," Yukiko explained. "I had to learn quickly, or else my family would end up cheated. I shouldn't speak ill of customers, but some will try trick you into giving them more than they paid for."

"Yukiko's astonishing business acumen," Nanako murmured. "Hey, Yosuke works for Junes, so he should be good at math, too, right?"

Yosuke shook his head. "I have a calculator that does it all for me! But I am pretty good at saving money. That's hard when you work at Junes. There's always a tempting sale. Sometimes I think half of our profits come from the employees."

Nanako supposed it was a good thing she didn't work there part-time. Funny, he always complained about part-timers calling out, but never attempted to recruit her. Maybe he knew she'd just laugh at him. "Half the soda sales come from you, heh heh. Speaking of, gimme a refill."

Surprisingly, he didn't seem bothered by the request this time.

* * *

[7/6: Wednesday]

During their World History class, Ms. Sofue mentioned that in many ancient societies, clean water was hard to come by, so people often drank alcohol regularly—even the children.

The mention of alcohol reminded Nanako that she'd never spoken with Mr. Morooka like she'd planned to. She'd been putting it off partly because she knew Yukiko had gone to see him more than once. But today Yukiko and Chie were going somewhere together—she didn't ask where—so the man was possibly free.

Yep, Morooka was the only one in the office after school. "Dojima?" He leaned away from his desk in surprise and turned from his seat to face her. Was he... happy to see her? "I haven't seen your face in here in a while. Don't worry about Amagi. I'm not feeding her any twisted tales. I save those for you." He laughed—it sounded like 'hyeh.'

"I sure do appreciate them," she said, and she wasn't lying. "The twisteder, the better!"

"'More twisted,'" he corrected, shaking his head. "Making up words now? Do I have to add that to your criminal record?"

Oh my god, she thought. Criminal record? Had Morooka found out about her locker room adventures in middle school? _Please, please, no._ If he was going to lecture her on that, she'd just die. Heck, if he even knew about that...!

But he was just watching her. "So? You had a reason for coming here, I presume?"

She breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "Good. Err, I mean," – she told herself to focus – "I wanted to talk to you about the camping trip."

His face scrunched into his common scowl. "Did something happen? You should have talked to me sooner, Dojima."

"Yeah, I really should have," she agreed. "And I don't have an excuse. Well, not a good one, anyway. At any rate, Mr. Morooka, why the heck were you drunk?"

Morooka's toothy mouth opened and closed a few times. "Dojima," he growled.

"Sensei!" she said quickly. "I'm not trying to get you in trouble or anything. But it's just not right that you're all worried about us—me, and Yukiko, and that third year artist girl—when you aren't necessarily taking care of yourself!"

"Are you saying you're worried about me?" He gave her a very hard look. "Damn, Dojima, that's the most amusing thing I've ever heard."

"Wh-what's so funny about it?" she said, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"Sit down, sit down." He waved at a chair at another teacher's desk, and she stiffly took a seat on it. "Now, that alcohol at the camping trip was brought in by one of the other teachers, whom I won't name for his own protection. I could see you hounding him."

"Well, you said 'him' so that narrows it down—"

"Shut up, Dojima," he growled. "I know your father's a detective—you announce it every chance you get. And you don't need to show off to me."

"Noted," she replied.

"Anyway, we all got piss drunk. All of us teachers, all right? Don't go thinking I make a habit of it, you delinquent!"

Delinquent? Nanako liked the word. She'd been called a pervert and a deviant, but surprisingly, never a delinquent.

"All you're missing is the long skirt," he added in a mutter.

"Nah," she said breezily, "the long ones are harder to walk in. If I'm anything, I'm practical. A practical delinquent."

"No wonder your uniform scarf is in your hair."

She patted her ponytail self-consciously. "Yep, yep."

"I should write you up for it. I should."

She was having fun bantering with him, but they were totally getting distracted. "Mr. Morooka. You can write me up. I don't really care. That's not the issue I wanna address today. Umm."

"'Umm'? It's not like you to hold back. Out with it, girl."

"When you were drunk at the camping trip," she rushed on, "I was worried about you. Yeah, I was. Because... you obviously know your subject really well, and probably love it a lot, but it's also obvious that you don't like teaching. I don't know why, and I'm not going to try and guess. But sometimes you act like the most horrible person, but I can't believe you're really that horrible or that you even believe half the horrible things you say, but all I can think is that you don't want people to get close to you, or something. And when you got drunk, all I could think was that you wanted to get fired."

He'd endured her entire lecture without his expression changing. She could tell he wasn't angry at her—there was a particular vein in his forehead that popped out when he was enraged. He was now regarding her carefully, like a cat watching a fern blowing in the breeze.

He finally spoke. "Is this your detective's instincts at work, or are you naturally this nosy? Don't answer that." He paused, staring unblinkingly at her. "Everyone has a different role in this farce that we call life, Dojima. You kids are all starry eyed and naive. But when you've seen what I've seen, you become cynical, cantankerous, and curmudgeonly."

"You can be a loveable curmudgeon if you try!" she said brightly, but she knew it was hopeless even before he snorted and rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, right," he rumbled. "Dojima. You have a bright future ahead of you. Don't waste your valuable time being worried about me. Got that?"

"But—"

"The best thing you can do for me is not burn out. Which, if I'm not mistaken, you seem to be about ready to do, Miss Falls-Asleep-in-Class."

"Hey, that was just the one time—"

"You've done it three times since, Dojima. You damn students always think teachers are blind. Some are, but most just turn a blind eye, especially when they realize it's not all it's cracked up to be. But I digress. If you have a sleep condition, that's one thing, and if you have a boyfriend keeping you up all night, that's another, but I highly, highly doubt your sleepiness is due to studying all night."

"I have too been studying," she protested. "My friends and I went studying after school on both Monday and Tuesday. We're just taking a break today!"

"Issat so. I suppose your scores will tell me if you're trying to pull a fast one on me. You didn't do all that well on the previous set of exams."

"Hey, I passed! And I did better than both Yosuke and Chie, to boot!" She was starting to get annoyed with how this conversation was turning into another of his lectures. "I'll do better this time, I'll show you. But—"

"Then what should you be doing right now instead of wasting time with me?"

She glared at him, but he glared right back at her. Oh, he was such an experienced glarer... She broke it off first, muttered a frustrated goodbye, and left the room.

She was barely five feet from the door when she'd realized she'd been played. Damn that Hierophant link! He'd so swiftly turned the topic from himself to her, and then railroaded her into leaving by constantly interrupting her. She needed to get on his level!

She nibbled her lower lip in thought. She needed to know more about him, find some sort of chink in his armor. Maybe one of the other teachers knew something. He... he did get along with the other teachers, didn't he? He couldn't push everyone away! Where was he from? Where did he go to school? Did he have family, a wife, children...?

Well, that could be a task for later. For now, she needed to focus on her schoolwork, just as he'd said... ugh!

* * *

When Nanako went home, she realized it was an Adachi Wednesday because Aunt Seta was there, hard at work in the kitchen. It was an interesting sight. The woman wore more casual dress than her usual business suit: a nice dark blue blouse with a darker-hued long dress skirt and stockings. A cooking apron was tied about her waist. She hummed absently to herself while she worked. It seemed she liked cooking, and, in Nanako's experience, she was a decent chef, too. It was a shame she couldn't do it more often.

Aunt Seta always had an audience when she cooked on these nights; Souji watched her attentively from the kitchen table. It was rather cute. Maybe that's how he'd learned to cook eggs and use the toaster.

After greeting her family, Nanako spread her books out on the tea table in the living room and spent the rest of the afternoon before dinner studying.

She was struggling with Japanese literature—the historical and linguistic significance of the Man'yoshu in particular— when Aunt Seta's cell phone rang. The ringtone wasn't anything special, just the default, and Nanako was too far away to hear even Auntie's half of the conversation, but it didn't last long, and after hanging up, the woman let out a huge sigh.

Worried it might be the office calling her up, Nanako walked into the kitchen, absently patting Souji on the head in the process.

Aunt Seta had taken a seat at the table, her cell phone resting conspicuously in front of her. "That was Adachi-san. He can't make it this week, but he said he'd definitely be here next week if I could manage."

Nanako bit the inside of her mouth. This was a pretty difficult courtship (if that's what it was, she still didn't know) for both of them due to their work lives. She wondered how Aunt Seta had ever married Sachio Seta in the first place.

Then she realized Souji was looking kind of forlornly down at the table, and she blinked. Was he... was he disappointed that Adachi wasn't visiting tonight?

Aunt Seta proceeded to turn off her phone anyway. "I won't let it ruin my night."

"Yeah," Nanako said encouragingly. "You should relax. And like, I need a break from studying. Why don't we make it a Souji-kun night instead, huh?"

Souji blinked up at her. She loved it when she caught him off-guard like that.

Aunt Seta also looked thoughtful. "That does sound nice. How about it, darling? Is there anything you'd like to do after dinner?"

Put on the spot like that, the boy couldn't be expected to answer, could he? But to Nanako's surprise, after a long moment, he said, "C-color... I want to color... Out here on the big table... With you too, Mama..."

His mother smiled. "Yes... That sounds... fun..."

After dinner, then, saw the three of them sharing a box of crayons. Souji had long since colored all the dinosaurs in the book Nanako had bought him, but fortunately she'd picked up a few more books. Today they were coloring in wild animals from Africa. Souji had an elephant, Nanako a lion, and Aunt Seta a giraffe.

Aunt Seta, as could be expected, was a very careful artist, always sure to color within the lines. She wasn't satisfied with the crayons due to their imprecision, so she had dug out a set of colored pencils. Souji stuck with the crayons—they were his, after all, and Nanako switched between the two as the whim took her.

Souji showed some creativity—he drew a tree next to the elephant and a long branch connecting to the elephant's raised trunk. "He's hungry," he explained.

When he looked at Nanako's lion, he asked why it was on fire. She'd colored the mane and tuft on the tail a vibrant orange and red. "He's a fire lion, don't you know?" she replied. "You can't pet him. But you won't be cold during winter if he is around."

"I bet he can see in the dark too," Souji added. "He doesn't need... a night light..."

"Hey, here's nothing wrong with a night light," Nanako told him. "Right, Aunt Seta? You know, I miss having one. I do, I do!"

"W-was it... L-Loveline?" Souji asked.

Nanako leaned towards him until her nose touched his hair, and then rubbed it against him affectionately. She noticed Foxie nestled in his lap and picked the plush up. "Y'know, Foxie dreams of being a lion, but she'll always be a fox. You have to make do with what you got. But with her bib, she can pretend she has a mane, right?"

She moved the bib around Foxie's neck so that it was on the back side.

"Right, Aunt Seta? Isn't it cute?"

Her aunt was so absorbed in coloring one of the giraffe's spots that she wasn't listening.

"Auntie?" Nanako tried again. When there was no response, she rolled a crayon across the table to interrupt her.

Aunt Seta stared down at it and blinked. Like mother, like son. "Huh?" she said. "Oh, were you talking to me?"

Souji began to giggle, and Nanako laughed too, which led Aunt Seta to chuckle herself.

"Souji-kun!" Nanako announced. "Tell your mom about the elephant slide at Junes."

He stared at her and then shook his head.

"It was scary, wasn't it?" she said sympathetically. "But yeah, Aunt Seta, there's a playground at the Junes food court, and we went down the slide together. It's shaped like an elephant."

"I haven't been up there," Aunt Seta admitted. "The food around the shopping district has always been good enough for me."

"I wish I had an Aiya back home," Nanako agreed.

Since she was done coloring, Nanako took out a pair of scissors and began cutting her lion out from the paper. She wanted to hang it up. Not on the fridge: she suspected Aunt Seta wouldn't like that. So she had a different plan.

After cutting her animal out, she handed the scissors to Souji and helped him cut the elephant out. He was very careful about it, cutting exactly along the lines, and she suspected her aunt would be the same when it was her turn. She wasn't wrong.

When they were done, she grabbed the animals and marched over to Souji's room. Then she taped them to the inside of his door.

As she admired her handiwork, Souji came up to see what she'd done. She pulled him close and ruffled his hair, and the smile on his face let her know that she'd done right.

And she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Aunt Seta was smiling in approval as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to the coauthor, herrdoktorat, for writing most of the 'Kanji at Okina' scene for me~
> 
> The chapter title, 'Detectoring,' is an homage to Terry Pratchett, who died recently. His work is an inspiration to me. My favorite book by him is 'Guards! Guards!' 
> 
> Next Chapter: Balls and Bets
> 
> Nanako checks out the Balls Club, and Kanji lost that bet at Okina, so...


	26. Balls and Bets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako checks out the Balls Club, Kanji pays up his debt, and the DEATH Squad members do some training together.

[7/7: Thursday]

The Balls Club had been at the back of Nanako's mind ever since she'd heard of it. She'd taken this long to act on it because she was still reluctant to join a club. But clubs would be closed next week to encourage students to study, so it was basically her last chance before the summer break.

Even with that deadline, she didn't really want to join, but she'd thought about it, and... it would surprise Mr. Morooka if she did, wouldn't it? And Balls Club, man, who wouldn't want to join that?

Yosuke, apparently. She tried dragging him along to the gym, but when they got there, he stopped her. "Whoa, I think it's about time you told me what this is about, Nanako."

"You said you'd join a club if I joined," she explained. "I wanna join the basketball club, so I thought we could join together."

"I don't want to," he said, and he was brave indeed. He didn't back down in the face of her DEATH glare. "Really, Nanako. I'm not that interested in sports, and besides, this club is for boys. I don't think they'd allow you on the team. Hey, don't get mad at me, that's just how it is!"

"Yosuke!" she said, feigning a scandalized tone of voice. "Are you afraid of balls or something? Sports are great. It'll keep you in shape and being a part of a team is a great feeling. You'll make more friends, I guarantee it!"

"I don't want to join," he repeated. "Just let me go, okay?" She was clinging to his arm for some reason.

"No," she said, stubborn as a mule. "Like, I'm fine with going in there alone, but you said you'd join a club! Why not this one? Or are you—"

"Because I've already joined a club," he blurted out, his face flushing.

She let go of his arm and stared at him for a good long moment in her surprise. He wouldn't lie to her, but when the heck had he joined, and what club? Was it 'Junes part-timers united' or something?

"It's... It's the music club, okay?" he said. "I'm going to learn to play that guitar. And, well, everyone's been nice to me there."

"The club leader is a dick!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but..." He shrugged. "I don't think he's that bad. He's just looking out for the club."

"Not that bad? He threatened my piano!" she shouted. "And he called it junk. Yeah, sure, it is a junker, but it's the only one I got out here!"

"S-sorry...?" Yosuke held his hands up defensively and recoiled as she simultaneously stepped towards him. He backed up against the gym's door.

"What are you apologizing for!?"

"B-because you're yelling at me?"

She stopped short. Then she stepped away and relaxed against the wall. She took a few deep breaths. It wasn't Yosuke's fault, but she was still pissed at the band club leader. "It's fine," she announced after some deliberation. "I hope you have fun there."

"Yeah... I think I will," he said slowly. His body relaxed now that her voice had returned to its normal volume.

"But you can still join a sports club," she told him.

Yosuke smacked his palm against his forehead.

* * *

In the end, Nanako relented and let Yosuke go. She'd conquer the Balls Club on her own. At least his words had riled her up—now she was ready for anything. She marched on into the gym to grab her destiny by the, well, balls.

The boys weren't even playing basketball. Instead they were just sort of standing around and talking in two distinct circles of conversation. She recognized the dark-haired Kou Ichijo, so she headed over to the group he was in. It was the smaller of the two cliques, with only four guys in it, including him.

"Nanako-san," he greeted, eyes lighting up in recognition. "What can we do for you? Want us to move the piano again?"

"I wanna sign up for basketball team manager," she declared.

Kou's mouth quirked. "Well, we already have a manager. Ebihara-san. She's... over there."

Ah, she saw it now. The second, larger group of boys was standing around a light-haired girl sitting comfortably in a folding chair. Some of the boys were on the floor by her feet and all of the boys were hanging onto her every word.

With a bit of work, she'd resemble Chie's Shadow.

"We haven't been shooting any hoops ever since she was assigned that position." Kou sounded very disappointed. "The balls haven't needed polishing in so long!"

"We don't have any team spirit," said another boy. "They all just wanna flirt with her. And she doesn't want to be here, even with all that attention."

"I see," said Nanako. "Would you guys welcome a new manager, then?"

"Sure," said Kou. "All I want is to play again!"

"Then help me out here," she said, and she proceeded to give them her plan.

* * *

Soon after, Nanako marched straight into that circle of boys until she stood right before Ai Ebihara. "I'm challenging you for the position of team manager," she declared.

Ebihara regarded her with her nose turned up. "Who the hell are you?"

"Yeah!" said a boy in the group. "Who do you think you are?"

The boy stood up, apparently to defend the queen, but Ebihara waved her hand—it was perfectly manicured with long, beautiful nails—and he immediately sat back down. "Well, it doesn't matter," she said. "Take it up with Mr. Kondo. He's the one who gave me the stupid position."

"Why don't we go see him together, then, and work something out," Nanako suggested. "Since you do want to step down, right?"

Ebihara narrowed her eyes. "What makes you so sure that I do?"

"Because when you're here, you aren't shopping! Besides, none of these boys is even worthy of your attention. They're too much like sheep, look at them fawning over you. They're only going to disappoint you in the end."

The boys collectively began to protest, but Ebihara looked thoughtful. "Yeah, they're totally a bunch of losers. You want to inherit that?"

"I'm going to whip these balls into shape until they're gleaming," she said. The metaphor made no sense, but the point got across.

"Like I care. Although the whipping sounds fun." Ebihara stood up from the chair. "You can have it. I was only here for one reason anyway." She glanced sidelong across the room at the second group of boys, then scowled.

She left the gym, which left Nanako to introduce herself. "Well, then! As your new boss, things are gonna—"

"There's no point in sticking around if Ebihara's not here," one of the boys protested.

"Yeah," agreed another. "This sucks—"

He was shut up by a basketball aimed at his head. Kou and his friends were armed with balls and ready to use them.

"It's dodgeball practice now, bitch!" Nanako declared. She picked up the nearest ball and threw it at the another member of Ebihara's gang. The boys yelped and scrambled to get away as the onslaught began.

"What the hell!"

"This is crazy!"

"Ai-chan!"

But Ebihara, who was now standing in the gym's open doorway, just closed it on their faces. She had no loyalty to her fans, that was for sure.

On the other side of the spectrum, though, a couple of Ebihara's boys apparently weren't sheep and decided to join in the 'fight' and have fun with the rest.

"Gotta love it," said Kou with a wide grin. So excited to be able to throw basketballs once again, he gave up on targeting the boys who were leaving and aimed at the basket instead, scoring a point.

Another boy followed his example, and soon it became an impromptu basketball practice session with the remaining boys. Nanako took the opportunity to assess the team. It was too bad, in the end, that they were two shy of the ten needed for a competitive game of basketball. If only she'd recruited both Yosuke and Kanji! Hey, it was still possible to get them in on this Balls Club, heh heh.

Some time later, Kou wiped his forehead and went over to Nanako. "That was great. It's been too long since we've played the courts like this!"

"There's more where that came from," Nanako promised. "Hope you boys are ready!"

The boys agreed, perhaps not realizing what exactly they were agreeing to. They should have asked to read the fine print, because Nanako was going to whip them into shape, just as she'd said!

They were making some small talk about the sport, since Nanako wasn't entirely familiar with it (though she pretended to be so as not to lose credibility), when the gym door opened and a number of the boys who'd left earlier entered.

"You!" one of them growled. "Do you have the key?"

"What key?" Nanako asked innocently.

"The key to the locker rooms! Mr. Kondo said you had it! You locked us out! We need to get changed."

"The club meeting isn't over," she told them. "So there's no need for you to change!" When they began to complain she told them she'd give them the key once they'd scored three points against Kou's team.

They had no choice but to agree, and Kou was probably happier than he'd ever been in a very long time. Nanako was satisfied, too. She'd made the right decision to join the Balls Club. Seeing the boys getting hot and sweaty in their basketball uniforms, hnng! The loose jerseys, the shorts! It was giving her flashbacks to middle school, no mistake. If only she could get that hidden camera in the locker room working, everything would be perfect.

* * *

[7/8: Friday]

Because it was raining, the DEATH Squad formed a study group at Aiya instead of Junes.

And because it was raining, Nanako made Kanji come with. It was time for him to take the Rainy Day Special Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. Hey, he'd lost that bet at Okina! Now he would bet against the beef.

The beef bowl was at least twice the size of a normal bowl and filled to the brim with noodles and meat. The egg on top was also supersized, as if it had come from an ostrich instead of a chicken. Kanji was looking down at it with an unreadable expression, possibly psyching himself up for the challenge ahead.

"You can do it, Kanji-kun!" Chie said, patting his back in encouragement. "If I can do it, you can! Though I don't know if I can make it today..." She looked down at the second Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl set in front of her. She was taking the challenge herself.

"Maybe I could help?" said Yukiko, eyeing the egg on top with a famished look.

"That's against the rules," Yosuke pointed out. "Besides, your ramen will be out in a second."

"If I can't finish it, you can definitely have the rest," Chie told her. "I don't mind!"

Yukiko smiled sweetly at her, and Chie smiled back... and then began to eat.

"Have you ever taken on the challenge, Aika-chan?" Nanako asked when the delivery girl brought out Yukiko's ramen and the plate of pot stickers that Nanako had ordered.

Aika didn't deign to answer. "Enjoy your meal."

"She's probably smarter than that," Yosuke commented. "Kanji, why in the world would you bet against Nanako?"

"Couldn't believe what she'd said, is all," Kanji muttered through some beef-laden noodles. "So I didn't really think 'bout it."

"What did she say?" Yosuke asked, curious now.

"Let's just say, the world's bigger'n I thought, senpai. You can't tell, sometimes, living in a small town." Kanji paused, his chopsticks in the air. "An' at the same time, the world's small. She showed me that."

"That's deep, Kanji-kun!" Nanako said with a prideful grin.

Yosuke crossed his arms and frowned. "…What does that have to do with the bet?"

"Yosuke," Nanako said. "I bet you five cans of cola that Kanji-kun will finish the challenge bowl."

"S-Senpai," Kanji protested, "I'm full already, and I still can't see the sides of the bowl."

"I'm not taking any of your bets, no matter the reward," Yosuke claimed. "Knowing you, there'll be no way I can win."

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" Nanako raised an eyebrow. "I'll come up with a deal so sweet that you can't resist, just you wait."

"Think you're in trouble now, Yosuke-senpai," Kanji said. "'Least I'm only out money. You might be swallowin' your pride."

"You should know better than to make a deal with the devil, Yosuke!" Chie said, overhearing their conversation.

"I didn't make any deal!" he protested. "Wh-why are you looking at me like that? The beef bowl's on the counter!"

Chie sighed. "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to finish it. Yukiko, did you really want some?"

"Yes, please!" Yukiko eagerly took Chie's chopsticks out of her hand and began to eat from her bowl.

"Aiyah! Too bad, Satonaka!" exclaimed the store owner. "That's 3,000 yen. Maybe next time. Kachan, are you gonna give up, too?"

Kanji stared into his bowl. The soul of the beef stared back at him. He sighed and took out his wallet.

"Don't forget, you're paying for me, too," Nanako reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah..." Kanji grumbled.

"See? You would've won that bet, Yosuke," Nanako teased.

"That would've been 600 yen worth of soda," Yosuke mused. He shook his head. "No, I'm sure you would've glared at Kanji until he somehow finished the bowl. I know you hate losing."

"Heh heh," said Nanako. She patted Kanji's shoulder. "Thanks for the meal."

"No problem, Senpai... Been a while since I took the challenge, anyway. Was good food. Aiya's always good."

"Mm-hmm," Nanako agreed. Then she sighed. "I guess... we should go study..." She looked out the windows and it was still pouring rain outside. "Aika! Could we study in here?"

The store owner answered that since they were paying customers, he didn't mind unless the restaurant became busy. They stayed there for the rest of the afternoon, although after a time the smell of beef made it difficult to concentrate.

* * *

[7/9: Saturday]

By now everyone was so thoroughly sick of studying that they all needed a break. "We haven't trained in ages," Nanako said. "I know the kidnapper hasn't struck lately, but that's no reason to get lazy, right? Let's make for the TV World."

When they arrived at the backlot, they found several pairs of tiger-striped boxer-briefs strewn about the stage.

"I have not been throwing my underwear in here!" Yosuke said vehemently when everyone looked at him.

Yukiko began to giggle. "N-now you have s-spares!"

Yosuke's face turned crimson. "Nanako! This isn't funny!"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with this!" Nanako replied. She had one hand on her hip, the other cupping her chin in thought. "Teddie!" she called. "Is this your doing?"

"Boss!" The bear was hustling towards them. He skated to a stop in front of Nanako. "Y-yeah! Do you like them? I made them just for you! You asked me to make some clothes, so I did! And then I thought that one wasn't enough, what if Boss needs more, and—"

Now Chie and Nanako were both laughing along with Yukiko.

Kanji scratched his head and looked away. "I guess they made an impression on him, Yosuke-senpai."

"Oh my god," Yosuke moaned.

Nanako picked up a pair and inspected them. She thought of asking where he obtained the material to make them, but decided she probably didn't want to know. "Well, thank you, Teddie. If I ever turn into a boy, I'm set."

"Boy...? Oh... Boss can't wear them?" Teddie's ears drooped down.

"Boxer-briefs are for boys," Nanako explained gently. "But we do have a couple of boys here, so we'll find a use for them!"

"I wanted to make something for Boss," Teddie said, still dejected.

"Well, if you're inspired enough, I'd like a set of glasses for my little cousin! And... say, do you think you could make shirts and blouses, too? Just like the ones we're wearing now."

Teddie's eyes narrowed in thought, and then widened as he nodded. "I'll try, Boss!"

While she instructed him on the specifics of what she'd like, she pretended not to notice Yosuke nonchalantly collecting the tiger-striped underwear and placing them into a neatly folded stack next to the exit TV.

* * *

They headed to Yukiko's Castle, straight to the throne room. Their plan was to sweep out the Shadows from top to bottom, floor by floor.

Although it had been a while since they'd fought, it didn't take very long for them to get back into the swing of things. They tore through the Shadows by systematically targeting their weaknesses. Kanji blasted the ravens out of the air with his electricity, Yosuke blew away the fish with his wind, Chie stopped the fire beetles in their tracks with her ice, and Yukiko melted down the rare Avenger Knights.

And Nanako just watched them go about it. She didn't even have to give them orders. They remembered how to deal with every type of Shadow here. Well, it was new to Kanji since he hadn't been to the castle before, but he caught on quickly. And it didn't matter too much: the place was hardly a challenge.

In an effort to change things up, Nanako commanded the team not to use their Personas. She herself needed to get better at using her naginata. She was always dropping it in the middle of combat. Yukiko definitely needed to practice her aim with her fan, and Kanji needed to learn a little restraint because he kept denting his weapon. Yosuke was often hesitant to get too close to the Shadows, and Chie sometimes kicked an enemy into a teammate in her enthusiasm.

With those weaknesses in mind, they cleared out two more floors of Shadows, showing steady improvement in their teamwork. When a balance-shaped Shadow summoned ice around Yukiko and knocked her down, Yosuke helped her back up to her feet while Kanji knocked the Shadow aside and into Chie's kick. Yukiko broke the 'no Personas' rule to heal everyone after a demon mage threw up a wall of flame, burning everyone and taking both Chie and Nanako down for a good long moment. Nanako had been keeping the elephant-headed Vetala at the forefront of her mind since she'd worked so hard to make it, but its fire weakness sometimes made it a liability. Most of her Personas had a glaring weakness, unfortunately.

She really needed to get better at switching her Personas on the fly. It'd be awesome if she could switch right before she was being hit by an enemy's ability—switch right into a Persona strong against it. If she could manage that, she'd be virtually invincible. Practice, that's what she needed, but it was too hard to do with everyone else around...

After they found the stairway to the next floor, Nanako called for a break and handed everyone water bottles from her backpack.

"I'm going to split us into two groups," she announced when they were refreshed and ready to continue. "We don't need to all be together, right?"

"I wanna go with Yukiko!"

The speed in which Chie declared that almost made Nanako laugh. "Well, Chie, I wanted you and Kanji-kun to go together, but I realized you wouldn't have a healer unless I came with. But you and Yukiko already work well together. At the same time, given a chance, I know Yosuke and Kanji would make a nice team."

"Whatever you want, Senpai," Kanji said. "I'll go with anyone."

"You go with Yukiko," Nanako decided. "Chie, you're with Yosuke."

"Aww, man!" Chie complained.

"W-what's wrong with me?" Yosuke asked.

"All you're gonna do is make dumb jokes! Or try to look up my skirt when I'm kicking!"

"I already know you wear shorts underneath your skirt," he said, which was the wrong thing to say. Chie kicked him, and he crumpled to the ground, clutching his shin and wailing. "I think it's brokennnnn!"

Although Chie's combat boots could do quite a bit of damage, it probably wasn't that bad. He was still whimpering after a minute, though, so Yukiko healed him.

"A-anyway," Nanako trilled while he was getting back to his feet. "Those are the teams. Now split up and get to it!"

"What about you?" Chie asked. "Coming with us? I don't think Yosuke wants to be alone with me now, heh. Serves him right!"

"I'm going back to check up on Teddie," Nanako said. It was only partially true, but they didn't need to know that. "You guys are already halfway to the bottom. I'll see you there."

* * *

Nanako nimbly avoided Teddie and headed to the bathhouse. She didn't plan to go too far into it—just hang around the first floor area and train on her own. It was slightly more dangerous here than the castle, mostly because there tended to be more Shadows in every group, but she was sure she'd be fine. Besides, if she ran into trouble, her Cu Sith could instantly take her out of the dungeon. It was how she'd left everyone in the castle.

She took off her blouse, dropping it carelessly on a stool, and went in. Not far into the dungeon, a group of five massive rocks with yellow arcana masks blocked her path. Basalt-type Shadows. With one word from her, the shaggy dog Cu Sith flapped open its huge ears and created a gale of wind that knocked over all of the Basalts. They should be way too heavy to knock over with wind, but... TV World. She repeated the attack and the Shadows dissipated.

Yeah, this place was a joke! And Cu Sith, able to attack all the Shadows in the area at once like that, was proving to be massively useful. She'd dumped Ukobach for Jack Frost a while ago and couldn't wait to find something weak to ice.

But without Ukobach, she didn't have anything that could summon fire anymore. She could only have so many Personas in her mind at one time, apparently. What was with these limitations? Wasn't the mind supposed to be, like, the window to the infinite universe? Hmm, she should talk to Morooka about that one. Or, or Igor...

Her thoughts were interrupted by another group of Shadows: a couple of cupids and a flying fish. This could be trouble—she remembered that the cupids could cause panic. But they were weak against ice, so...

"Jack Frost!"

The cutesy snowman encased the enemies in ice, but the fish flashed and the ice was reflected and formed around Nanako instead. It would have been worrisome if she wasn't still using the same Persona. Jack Frost simply stuck his tongue out at the fish before disappearing.

Cheeky little guy.

The fish tried to ram into her, but she drew up her naginata and it stupidly impaled itself on it. Yeah, this place wasn't much more of a challenge than the castle.

She was leery of the next group of Shadows, however. She'd never seen them before. They were red clouds of mist with an arcana mask just floating there within the cloud. She tried Cu Sith's wind first, but it seemed to have no effect. One cloud moved close to her, so she tried to slash it, but her naginata went right through the mist. The Shadow didn't have an invisible body or anything.

They had to be weak against some element. She switched to Omoikane and—

Fire suddenly surrounded her and she swore as it singed her.

The TV World's physics were so unusual. The fire disappeared as fast as it appeared. It hurt like real fire would, but the pain wasn't lasting, or at least it wasn't enough to stop her from retaliating the next chance she got. It also didn't burn through clothes, for whatever reason.

She went through her arsenal of Personas, avoiding those weak to fire, but nothing she tried seemed to be working against these Shadows. Fireball after fireball came at her until she couldn't take it anymore and brought out Izanami to try and douse the damned flames with her water.

It ended up drenching away the Shadows, too. Nanako thanked the goddess and then asked her to sing a healing melody until the pain from the fire was just a bad memory.

Only two battles in and she was already soaked with sweat. But it was exhilarating, wasn't it? Fighting on her own. She remembered her goal, though—to work on recognizing what a Shadow would do next and switch her Persona in time to match it. The switching process took a few seconds—a few seconds too long. It required concentration, calling the new Persona to mind and pushing the previous one out, and try as she might, she wasn't getting any faster at it. It was incredibly frustrating to know this limit and also be unable to do anything about it. It was starting to give her a headache, too.

To give her mind a rest, she attacked the next Shadow, a lone police-dog, with her naginata instead. It shot at her with its gun, but she ignored the pain and swung again.

Then a stream of multicolored light came flying at her head and made a popping sound. Her mind went blank.

When she came to some minutes later, her body was throbbing in pain and she was surrounded by cupids. Dammit, she'd been panicked, hadn't she? Yeah, money was strewn about the floor, money that had come from her own wallet. A cupid laughed at her expression and she summoned Jack Frost to deal with them all at once.

She picked up as much of the money as she could and considered how dangerous the situation could have been. The Shadows had attacked her while she was in that befuddled state. The lasting pain was proof of that. They could have killed her. But the cupids weren't very strong, so they hadn't been able to finish her before she'd recovered her senses.

It was proooobably about time to go back.

She cleared out a few more sets of cupids on the way out, and as she was preparing Cu Sith in her mind to destroy another wall of basalts, they fell over before she could even summon the Persona.

"There you are!" shouted Yosuke.

Oh, damn, she'd been caught.

"Nanako! What the hell are you doing, going in alone? You had us all worried!"

"Yeah, Senpai," Kanji said, walking up to them. "We got to the bottom of the castle and Teddie was runnin' around out there like he'd lost his head."

Eh heh... apparently she hadn't 'nimbly avoided' the bear's notice at all. "I just wanted to test something with my Personas is all," she said. "No need to worry. As you can see, I didn't go very far."

"You should have told us," Yosuke said, crossing his arms. "You know it's dangerous to go alone! You're the one who came up with that rule. If you wanted to test something, you could have told us to back off and let you do it. That way, if anything happened, we'd be there to back you up."

"Have to agree with him, Senpai," Kanji said. "'Cause if you got hurt, we wouldn't've known at all."

"Nothing in here can stop me," Nanako said. One of the basalts Yosuke had knocked over had returned to an upright position, and Nanako showed off by knocking it over again with Cu Sith's wind. "See?"

"Boss? Boss, are you okay?" Teddie's worried voice filtered into their minds. Moments later, she heard his footsteps and then the bear was with them, too. "Boss! You had me so worried!"

So worried that he'd even come into the bathhouse? Now Nanako felt guilty. His fur was getting soaked from the steam, and it was also starting to smell rank. "A-all right," she said. She patted his head, yeah, he was all wet. "I'm sorry, Teddie. I should've warned you. But I didn't go far, and I'm okay..."

"I'm glad, Boss! I made you the glasses you asked for, after all!" Teddie handed her a silver pair of glasses.

"Nanako," said Yosuke flatly.

She looked at him. "So you all cleared the castle? No problems?"

"Not really, Senpai," Kanji answered. "Was a nice workout, I guess. Halfway through Yosuke-senpai switched with Yukiko-senpai, so me an' him went through the last few floors together."

"Yeah, I, uh, I had enough of Chie for one day," Yosuke admitted. His posture relaxed as he began to forgive her perceived recklessness. "Do you have anything more to test, Nanako? Or are you ready to go back?"

"I was just heading back when you guys showed up!" she told him. "Honestly, you had nothing to worry about."

"But—" Yosuke began, but she cut him off by using her Persona to warp them back to the bathhouse's entrance.

* * *

After they recovered from the disorientation due to the warp, Teddie moved a few steps away and shook himself like a dog, spraying water and sweat over all three of them.

"Teddie!" Nanako scolded. "Go outside and do that!" She'd just picked up her blouse to put back on, too, and now it was dirty.

"S-sorry, Boss!" the bear apologized, and then he left the building. They could hear him panting and shaking outside.

Nanako shook her head, and then looked down at her damp blouse. She looked sidelong at the boys as an idea took hold. "Now then," she said briskly. "Since we're here already, and we're done for the day, why don't we use the baths?"

Kanji blinked and then said, "Yeah!"

"'We'?" asked Yosuke with a frown. "You mean..."

"Heh heh," said Nanako. "That's right. I told you during the camping trip that I'd totally go in the baths with you guys."

He stared at her for quite a long moment. "What about the other girls? We left them at the stage."

Nanako called out to Teddie and told him to go let Chie and Yukiko know that she was fine and that they could go right on home.

She waited until she heard him walking away, and then turned back to the boys. "Just you, me, and Kanji-kun. That's what I want today."

Yosuke's reply was the blush creeping over his face. Then he took off his shirt and pants until he was only wearing his boxer-briefs. No pattern today, just a solid dark gray. Nanako was distracted from staring at him by Kanji following suit. Yep, he was still in briefs.

She made the boys head first through the passage that led to the baths because she wanted to watch them from behind. Yosuke walked stiffly, definitely on guard. He suspected something. Heh heh. He knew her, didn't he? Just not in the same way that Kanji-kun did. But she wasn't planning anything except a good time.

Yosuke paused at the door to the chamber that held the baths. He seemed relieved all of a sudden. Nanako looked at him questioningly. "I just realized," he said, "that electronics don't work in here."

"Yeah, so?"

"Thought you might be trying to take a picture of us in a compromising position," he explained. "I wouldn't doubt you'd try to send it to Katsuragi somehow, or something."

"That's a good idea!" Nanako said brightly. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Kanji-kun, why are you looking at me like that!?"

"S-sorry, Senpai!" Kanji hung his head. "I just... wouldn't put it past ya."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment and then shrugged. "Guilty as charged, I suppose. Now are we gonna have a bath or what?"

She opened the doors, strode in, and made for the nearest washing station. Yosuke stayed near the door, looking lost, until Kanji kindly directed him to a different washing station across the way.

Nanako removed the rest of her clothes and put them in a basket near the washing station. She took her time cleaning herself, partially because she really needed a cleaning from all the training, and partially because she could hear the two boys talking amongst themselves while they did the same thing.

"Nah, senpai, we're gonna use the same bath," Kanji said.

"What, really? But there are plenty of baths here."

She couldn't see through the haze of steam, but she imagined Kanji shrugged before replying. "'s what we did last time."

"Waitwaitwait, last time? You went into the bath with Nanako before!?"

Nanako laughed lightly.

"Yeah, when we mapped the place. We needed a break after all that walking we did, so—"

Yosuke made a strangled sound that made her laugh even more.

"She suggested it, after all," Kanji continued. "Was fun. Made me feel not so bad about havin' made this place."

"Y-yeah," Yosuke said. "I can imagine."

There was silence after that as they presumably continued with the washing.

"You guys done yet?" Nanako called from her station when she was finished. "We're gonna use the bath right here." It was the bath closest to her because that was the most convenient. Without further ceremony, she stepped in the steaming water and submerged most of her body within it.

"Dude, you forgot a towel!" Yosuke called after Kanji, who was heading towards the bath.

Kanji halted and glanced back at him. "Bring one for me, will you, senpai?"

"Yeah, okay, but I mean, you aren't wearing one!"

Kanji looked down at his blatant nudity. Then he laughed. "It's my damn bathhouse. I'll wear nothing if I want."

He stalked forward the rest of the way and stepped into the bath that Nanako was in. He grinned at her, and she grinned back.

Yosuke was prudish with his towel tightly wrapped around his waist. He paused at the edge of the bath and locked eyes with Nanako, who was watching him closely. "D-don't..." he started.

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, it's nothing I haven't seen before. It's not like your boxer-briefs hide that much, anyway!" He didn't seem particularly reassured, so she added, "I'm naked, too. Are you saying you don't wanna bathe with me? I mean, Kanji-kun is already in and all~"

He swiftly removed the towel and stepped in, but he wasn't fast enough to prevent Nanako from sizing him up.

Heh heh.

Though maybe he didn't notice. "Oh!" he sighed as he sank into the hot water until it was high on his chest.

"See? It's fine," Nanako told him. "We're friends and we're having fun."

"It is nice," Yosuke admitted. "I haven't been to a public bath since I lived in the city. And before you ask, no I didn't go with my friends. I went with my family..."

"Isn't it great? It could only be better if Yukiko would let us use the hot springs, heh."

"She'll never do that, Senpai," Kanji murmured. His eyes were closed and his head was leaning back against the edge of the bath. "'Sides, the hot springs're segregated, you know, boys only and girls only, so we all wouldn't be able to go in together like this."

"Well, this is supposed to be boys only," Yosuke pointed out. "You're just breaking rules again."

"Because that's no fun," Nanako said. "I want everyone to be here, all at the same time." Maybe she should've invited the other girls... Next time.

"It's not really proper," Yosuke said. "I mean, Yukiko-san has a reputation to maintain."

"Oh? And Chie and I don't?" Nanako said in a dangerous tone of voice.

"N-no," he said. "That's not what I meant. But you know how Yukiko always has that air of being traditional and proper about her all the time."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Nanako sighed. "Honestly? I don't think she likes it all that much. Being proper all the time. She gets real into burning things, you notice?"

"Yeah, Senpai," said Kanji. "You shoulda seen her when we ran into some of those ravens. She was shoutin' all sorts of things at them because they wouldn't burn. It was a bit scary, to be honest!"

"Yukiko, the spitfire," Nanako murmured. "I gotta spend more time with her. But anyway, whether it's proper or not doesn't apply in here. It's just us and the Shadows, y'know? No one'll believe you if you said you went into a bath with Yukiko. What happens here, stays here, I guess you could say!"

"That's true," Yosuke said with a sigh. "But maybe they'd believe me if I said I went with you!"

Nanako splashed him and they both laughed.

She allowed the comfortable silence to lapse while they all enjoyed the hot water. It was pretty great that the baths were self-maintained. She wondered how long they'd be functional. Forever was hoping for a lot. Imagine them still being hot and steamy during the winter. It would be heavenly!

Okay, that was enough relaxing. Time to enact the next part of her plan.

"Hey, Yosuke," she said sweetly.

"What?" he murmured. His eyes were closed now, too. Yeah, he was totally relaxed.

"I bet you won't kiss Kanji-kun."

Water splashed around as Yosuke sat up suddenly. "Wh-what the hell?" he cried. "What even made you think that?"

"Err, Senpai?" said Kanji, blinking his own eyes open. "I don't think of Yosuke-senpai like that."

"Thanks, man!" Yosuke told him with feeling.

"But you didn't even hear what I was gonna bet," Nanako complained with a playful pout. "Oh well!"

Yosuke scowled down at the water, then glanced at her, and then at Kanji, and then at the water again. After a long moment, he asked, "Wh-what were you going to bet?" in a quiet, strangled voice.

"Heh heh," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My only regret so far is that summer break is coming up, so there won't be any time for further Balls Club fun. 
> 
> If you're curious about that bet at the end, well, my coauthor wrote an E-rated story about what happened next. It's called, "[And Yosuke In-Between.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3622281)" Adults only, of course.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Superior Man


	27. The Superior Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako spends a peaceful Sunday with her aunt and her cousin. And then there's Monday.

[7/10: Sunday]

After that very relaxing afternoon in the bathhouse, Nanako reluctantly decided it was time to get back to studying. She had to kick it into high gear; they only had another week before exams. And after spending so much time with her friends over the last few days—who, beloved though they were, were also infinitely distracting—there was someone outside the group who needed her attention.

"Sou-chan~" she trilled. "How was daycare yesterday? Did Yuuta-kun get to see your umbrella?"

Souji, seated at the tea table and ready for a morning of Sunday children's television, nodded. "He wants one, too!"

"He should ask his mom—" She frowned in mid-thought. She hadn't met Yuuta's stepmom last week because the boy had suddenly dashed ahead when they'd reached the street he lived on. Nanako hadn't been expecting it, and before she knew it, the boy was out of sight. Impulsive kid.

Souji handed her a gummi from the bag, as if he understood. Heck, maybe he did, if Yuuta complained at school. A family more dysfunctional than the Setas? Was it possible?

Right before Loveline started, Nanako's phone buzzed. It was probably Chie complaining about studying or something. _Today's a family day,_ Nanako thought, looking across at Souji with a warm smile.

It was, in fact, going to be a real family day. Aunt Seta was home with them, doing some paperwork at the kitchen table. "It's about to start!" Nanako called to her. The woman had declared this morning that she was going to watch television with them. It had been quite a surprise to hear that at breakfast.

"Oh!" The woman briskly stood up and took her seat at the sofa. "What is this show about, anyway?" she asked after settling down.

"It's Magical Detective Loveline, Auntie. The title kind of tells you everything, hehe."

As the show started, Nanako sang the theme song, and she poked Souji until he was singing along with her. _No need to be embarrassed! We're all family here!_

Nanako held out the bag of gummis to her aunt and she daintily took one. Then she made sure Souji had one, too, and turned her attention to the show. In this episode, Loveline lost a locket that belonged to her grandfather and was trying to find out who might have taken it.

Halfway through the show, Nanako's phone went off again. She was more popular than Aunt Seta today! She checked the name. It was Yosuke. Heh, he was probably wondering how their time in the bathhouse yesterday had changed their friendship. _Totally hasn't, Yosuke._ She turned off her phone after that. Her friends really should know better than to interrupt during Loveline and Featherman.

"Is it Chie-san?" Souji asked her softly. "Are we going to train today?"

"Nah, we trained yesterday," Nanako told him. "I'm sorry we left you behind! We'll do it with you next Sunday, how's that?"

"Okay..."

"Train?" Aunt Seta asked.

"Exercise," Nanako explained. "My friend is on the track team. We jog down the flood plain and do jumping jacks and stuff. Souji-kun should get out of the house more on weekends, so I've been bringing him with us."

"That's so nice of you," Aunt Seta said. "Souji, have you thanked her?"

Souji blushed and looked down. "Y-yes, Mama..."

"Darling boy," his mother murmured.

The show returned from commercial, so they went back to watching. It turned out the locket had been knocked under a dresser by the cat. Kind of an anticlimactic end, but it had been cute to see Loveline's powers didn't always work.

During the break before Featherman started, Nanako informed her family that she'd finally joined a school club.

"'Finally'?" Aunt Seta noted. "Was there some debate over it?"

"Y-yeah," Nanako admitted. "I didn't really want to join one. But I thought it might keep me out of trouble, heh heh, so I joined the basketball club. I only went to a meeting once so far, but it was pretty fun. Do you like sports, Sou-chan?" When he looked uncertain, she told him he could be honest.

"N-not when there's a lot of shouting," he murmured.

"Why don't we play outside a little after the show?" she suggested. "I promise I won't shout."

"I thought you had studying to do," Aunt Seta pointed out, not unkindly but with purpose.

Nanako scowled because she was right. "Yeah, yeah, after Featherman..."

With that looming in her future, the episode of Featherman seemed shorter than normal. After some debate, she decided to focus on geography. It wasn't a difficult subject, in her opinion, but it was something she never really bothered to study. She thought she ought to make the attempt. Mr. Yamada taught it and she didn't really like him—he was always making creepy comments about how cute Yukiko was—but that wasn't an excuse to slack off on the subject.

About an hour later, right as Nanako was starting to get really restless, Aunt Seta came to the tea table and set a large shoebox at its edge. Nanako moved her notebooks out of the way and looked at the box curiously.

"I thought you might like to see this, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta said. "If you can take a break."

"What is it?"

Aunt Seta's playful smile resembled Igor's. She opened the box and withdrew some photographs. She handed one to Nanako and another to Souji.

Nanako inspected the picture. A group of boys were in it, wearing only their underwear. Her eyes immediately scanned the array: mostly briefs, but one boy was wearing swim trunks and another boxers. The boys were playing in a riverbed that didn't have very much water in it. One particular bare-chested boy stood out because Nanako recognized that face. He had dark hair, and, despite the distinct lack of 5 o'clock shadow, already sported a rather rugged look. He had his arm about another boy's shoulder and was giving the camera a peace sign.

"Wow, my dad was hot!" Nanako exclaimed. And he wasn't the one wearing boxers, thank god.

Oh shit, she'd said that out loud! As she covered her mouth and racked her brain on how to salvage that comment and not appear as a creep to her dad's only sister, Aunt Seta said, "He was quite the charmer, yes. There were a number of girls after him during those years."

"And boys, too?" Nanako asked, again without input from her brain.

"He was in a sports club," the woman conceded, her smile not wavering. "Your mentioning it earlier reminded me to show you these pictures."

Nanako traded pictures with Souji and discovered her father had been on the soccer team. This was a picture of him in his sports uniform, foot resting on a soccer ball. His hair was damp with sweat and his shorts covered in mud. It must have been taken after practice. Nanako could almost smell the musk—

She bit her lip and put the picture down. These were really not good thoughts to have!

"He looks nice," Souji commented.

"Nice?" Nanako squeaked. "Oh, you mean friendly?"

Souji nodded.

"He can be," she said, "but he's totally my dad. You know how it is!" A moment later she slapped her hand over her mouth again. 'You know how it is'? Dammit, how insensitive was she? "Err, I mean, umm, he's stern with me," she finished lamely.

"Yeah," Souji said. He sounded solemn, but thankfully undamaged by her thoughtless words.

"I wish Tokyo wasn't so far away," Nanako murmured. Another adult in Souji's life would be grand. "Then you could meet him." Though Souji probably had met him, at the funeral...

"It can't be helped." Aunt Seta sighed, and Nanako realized she probably missed her brother, too.

Nanako scanned for a way to change the subject. "W-wait a second," she said, picking up the picture again. "Is that a Yasogami uniform? Dad went to Yasogami!?"

"Did you think he was from Tokyo?" Aunt Seta teased. "He is a country boy at heart."

"How did I not know this!?" Nanako asked herself in wonder. "My mom's not from here, though, I know that. How did they meet, anyway...?" Her mom had married young, that's all she knew.

Aunt Seta shook her head. "I don't believe Ryotaro has ever told me. Knowing your mother, it must be a very interesting tale."

Nanako couldn't agree more. She'd have to ask!

"I do see both of them in you, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta went on.

"Y-yeah?" Nanako felt embarrassed.

Aunt Seta didn't explain, instead offering to look for other pictures. "I'm sure I have plenty more. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to photographs. I know I have a set you'll really like."

"Y-yeah?" Nanako repeated. "Please do!"

Aunt Seta smiled and said she'd find them and show her later. As the woman took the photos back and placed them in the box, Nanako felt it before she heard it. The time stop! Temperance. She was so stunned by the fact she'd established a link with her aunt that she didn't do anything.

* * *

That night, at around ten, Nanako turned her phone back on to find several voice mails waiting for her. Well, it was too late to worry about them now, and besides, she had a more immediate goal.

She called her dad. He should be free at this hour. He might be in bed, but knowing him, he was probably up and going over a case file or something. Or maybe he'd be out drinking with his fellow officers. But it was a Sunday night, so probably not.

"Nanako?" Dojima's gravelly voice answered. "Hey, honey. Everything all right over there?"

"Daaaaaad!" she squealed, excited over just his voice. "Auntie said you were totally a heartthrob when you were a kid, and she showed me pictures and everything."

"Nanako."

She ignored the warning tone in his voice. "Now I totally see why Mom kicked her boyfriend to the curb for you!"

"...Is there a point to this call?"

"Dad, Dad! I was just wondering, Dad... There was this picture of you and another cute boy in middle school. You were in the river with your schoolmates, playing in the water, I guess."

"Oh?" He sounded somewhat more interested now. "We were probably looking for whetstones."

"Yeah! So that boy next to you in the picture, do you remember him? He, well, he looked normal I guess, he had light hair and his eyes were maybe brown, hard to tell in the picture, and you had your arm around him."

"Hmm... It was probably Takeshi. I wonder what he's doing right now."

"Daaaaaaaad."

"What?"

"You ever kiss him?"

Even without the dead silence on the line, she knew she'd gone too far. She just couldn't help it. That picture had been too cute.

Finally her father answered. "Stay out of trouble, honey."

He hung up on her.

She blushed into the phone. His reaction...! He hadn't denied it!

Did... did her sexuality run in the family? It was a relief to think that.

Because maybe... maybe her dad understood her. She thought back to the Locker Room Incident and his reaction. He had such a poker face, but... even while he'd lectured her, she'd sensed something from him then, something she hadn't the skill to identify at the time.

Had it been empathy?

Her phone buzzed with a text message. She read the sender's name and growled to herself. Dad, always tattling on her to her mother! Really...!

The text read:

_He did, but don't tell him I said that!_

_Xoxo love you much, honey!_

She stared at it until the phone went idle from lack of input.

* * *

[7/11: Monday]

It was a cloudy day. The forecast had said it would rain tomorrow, but you could never trust the forecast—although Inaba's always seemed surprisingly accurate—so Nanako made sure Souji brought his umbrella to school with him today just in case.

"Loveline~" she sang at him, and he smiled back. She asked him about his favorite story in the manga so far, and they discussed it all the way to the intersection. They lingered there for a few minutes to keep chatting. He even turned the question on her. "We haven't seen it yet, Sou-chan! But so far I just love it when she takes that puppy home."

He nodded in agreement. And then he mentioned that Takeyoshi-kun had a puppy.

She eyed him shrewdly. "I think it's about time I meet this Takeyoshi-kun, Sou-chan. Maybe after my exams we can go swimming, huh?"

"I'd like that," he admitted. She hugged him one last time and then shooed him off to school.

She continued to hum the Loveline theme song to herself while walking to school because she had it stuck in her head. She didn't stop even when she came across other students—at least until she heard them talking. Eavesdropping was another skill she'd learned from Dad, heh heh. Well, actually it was just hard not to overhear conversation when everyone was going in the same direction.

The boys were two underclassmen. She didn't know their names. They both had dark hair, although one had longer hair than the other, and wore the Yasogami uniforms without any obvious personal flair.

"Figured they'd cancel class today," the short-haired boy observed.

"Are you nuts?" his friend scoffed. "A school in Japan, canceling class?"

"Hey, I can dream, can't I?" the first replied.

She raised her eyebrow. Yeah, right!

At the shoe lockers, the students at school seemed chattier than normal, but Nanako attributed it to her imagination. It was the start of the week, after all, and with exams coming up, everyone was under pressure. A lot of people were complaining about how much they'd studied so far. Someone said they couldn't study at all yesterday, and she wondered if he'd spent the day with his family, too.

After going to the bathroom one last time before school started, she got behind her desk and checked the clock. There was still a little bit of time before class. Chie wasn't even here yet, and neither was Yosuke. Let's see, she had math after homeroom today. She decided to take that notebook out and review what they'd learned last week.

It was difficult to study, though, because the students around her were talking so loudly! She glared at them to absolutely no effect. So wrapped into their excited conversation, they didn't acknowledge her at all. With a sigh she re-wrote an algebra problem in her notebook and tried to solve it without looking at the solution.

She'd manage to get it half-finished when she noticed Yosuke rushing into the classroom. She checked the clock again—yeah, he was totally almost late for class! He nearly tripped over the desk at the front of the row in his haste to get to his desk.

But instead of sitting, he stopped in front of Nanako's desk and panted to catch his breath. "Nanako! I swear to you I checked and there was nothing there!"

She frowned at him. "What are you talking about? Sit down, homeroom's about to start! And where the heck is Chie?"

"The Midnight Channel!" Yosuke said. He didn't take his seat and continued waving his arms at her. "No one was on it! It doesn't make any sense. I promise you I've been diligent about checking it every time it rains!"

She nodded. "I know. I checked it on Saturday night, too, and it was completely blank. But why are you so worried about it? No one's on it, that's a good thing!"

Yosuke's mouth opened and closed and his eyes widened. "Uh... N-Nanako," he said cautiously. "You didn't get any of our messages?"

"Duh, it was a family day yesterday," Nanako told him. "I don't normally answer the phone on Sundays, do I?"

"And you didn't watch the news? There was another murder victim. Apparently he was killed the same way as the other two!"

"So it really is a serial murder now," she mused to herself. "Wait a minute! If the victim wasn't on the Midnight Channel, then what happened? He wasn't put in the TV World, was he? Sit down, anyway, before Mr. Morooka comes in and bitches at you."

Yosuke flinched, his face paling. "Uh, uh, Nanako. The victim... w-was King Moron... They found his body just outside the shopping district on an apartment's rooftop—"

Time didn't freeze, but it might as well have. His words weren't being processed at all.

Wait, what?

Mr. Morooka... dead?

He was dead?

Their homeroom teacher?

Dead?

What?

How could Mr. Morooka be dead?

Yosuke continued to talk about the state of the body, but it was going in one ear and out the other.

The Midnight Channel.

Mr. Morooka hadn't been on it.

She really had checked it herself Saturday night.

But he was dead?

It... it couldn't be.

Now Chie was here, too, telling her how they'd spoken with Teddie yesterday, and...

A middle-aged woman with a very low-cut skirt came into the classroom. She stood in Morooka's place at the front desk, soiling it with her presence. "Goooood mornin'," she said with a seductive lilt. "I'm Noriko Kashiwagi, your new class teacher starting today. You all probably know already, but Mr. Morooka has passed away..."

Nanako grabbed her school bag and began to run towards the door, bile rising in her throat.

"Where do you think you're going, little girl?" Kashiwagi said, but Nanako rushed on out of there, ignoring everyone in her path. She ran down the stairs, past the shoe lockers, out of the school, down the road, past the flood plain, no clear goal in her mind until she was absolutely out of breath.

By the time she stopped, she was at the shopping district. Izaya wasn't there at the gas station. It was possibly too sunny for him.

A sunny day. Where the fuck did all the clouds go?

The blue door by the bookstore gleamed at her mockingly in the sunlight, its key heavy in her hand. She didn't recall taking it out of her school bag, but there it was, the stoic black and white mask insignia perhaps mirroring her own expression.

She entered the Velvet Room for the first time in months.

Igor was there in the usual spot behind the table, and so was Margaret. To his credit, Igor was... he wasn't smiling.

"You...!" she shouted as the limousine's engine revved up. The sound faded into silence. In her mood, Nanako wasn't even aware that the sourceless singing that normally filled the room was absent today.

Her body trembled. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

Neither resident spoke, but the two were observing her carefully. Margaret's hand was clutched in a tight fist over the Persona Compendium in her lap.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nanako shouted again. "You're supposed to know these things! Isn't it your job? You're supposed to be helping me!"

"We cannot foresee the future," Margaret began, but Nanako cut her off.

"Bullshit! Igor was telling me all about my future when I wasn't even in this damned town. What the hell, Margaret, Igor! Mr. Morooka is dead. He was my social link. He can't die! Why!? Why did he die? You... You could have warned me! I... I'm supposed to protect everyone, isn't that right? So why didn't you do your damned jobs and...!"

"Our job," Margaret answered coldly, "is not something you can understand. It is not to directly interfere with the workings of your world. This is but one truth you'll have to accept—"

"I don't give a damn about the truth!" Nanako interrupted, slamming her fist repeatedly down on Igor's table.

The engine revved again, and the fog rolling outside the windows began to stream by at a much faster rate. Wherever it was going, the vehicle was speeding up.

"How dare you lecture me about this shit when my social link died?! You're happy to call me and say how important they are and then one dies and I'm not given any warnings! Not one! Not a damn card!"

"The cultivation of social links is important mostly if you bothered to utilize our services," Margaret replied.

"...You did not just say that," Nanako said quietly.

"But they will also bring you closer to the truth," Margaret went on. "The purpose of your journey is the truth, is it not?"

"Oh, you're bringing it back to the truth, huh?" Nanako growled. "I'm supposed to find the damned truth, but as soon as I get close to it, one of my mentors dies. Maybe... maybe the truth isn't worth shit!"

The limousine began to careen wildly, and Nanako fell to her knees, unable to keep her feet as it turned sharply. Margaret's face, usually so smug, was suddenly full of some emotion that Nanako had trouble identifying. "Master!" Margaret cried.

Nanako directed a venomous gaze on Igor, daring him to speak up.

The vehicle hit a bump in the road, and Nanako was slammed into the brandy cabinet. She tried to grab a bottle and smash it against the floor in her wrath, but gravity pressed down on her and she couldn't move, as if the car had braked to a screeching halt.

"Enough."

Igor spoke, his voice so quiet that it was barely audible.

"There are rules, dear guest," he said, and there was sadness in his voice. "And we are bound by them, as are you. We are your allies, and we will help you, but we cannot break the rules. I share in your sadness, but I must remind you that you alone are responsible for your actions."

She stared at him.

There was a flash of light from the windows, distracting her. The fog outside had dissipated completely. Another movement caught her eye. Margaret was looking from window to window in utter shock.

After a long moment, though, the woman composed herself. "If..." Margaret hesitated very briefly, running her nails through her hair. "If you break the contract, we will be unable to aid you in the remainder of your journey." She held her lower lip in her teeth for a moment. "This is not advisable."

"You're wrong," Nanako said, looking the woman dead in the eye. "Not this. This wasn't my action. I might have been responsible if I knew something and did nothing, but I didn't. But if it's so important that I abide by this bullshit contract, then let me say this... whatever led to my social link dying wasn't my responsibility, but what comes after sure will be."

She paused. "You won't need cards to know that."

Her eyes closed, and as the room faded from existence, she heard Igor's voice calling out to her. "Dearest guest," he said, "Death is not the end for a social link."

* * *

When her fists unclenched out there on the central shopping district's street, Nanako found that her nails had dug so deep into her palms that they were almost bleeding.

She didn't feel any pain.

She didn't feel much of anything, to be perfectly clear. The anger had been returned to the back burner, replaced by... what? She didn't even have the coherence of thought to figure it out.

She stared at the blue door for a long while. She wasn't thinking of Igor's words, or Margaret's. She wasn't thinking much of anything, and nothing specific prompted her to begin walking down the street.

The crime scene was supposed to be near the central shopping district, but that fact wasn't even in her mind until she turned down a street at random to find a police barricade set up in the distance.

A part of her idly wondered if Adachi-san was there, throwing up. Throwing up at the sight of...

Throwing up like she wanted to do. The pressure rising in her body made her feel like she might burst at any moment.

On some level she knew investigating the crime scene was important, but that level was far, far removed from her current state.

* * *

She found herself at the overlook that stood over the town. She stared over it without seeing for an indefinite time. She didn't notice when a bird hopped along the guard rail almost within her reach, nor when a police siren sounded out in the distance, nor when a large drop of rain landed on her head. The rain was only teasing, a few drops more and it stopped, although the sky promised more: the heavy clouds were moving across it like a choppy sea.

Eventually, though, the chronic buzzing of her phone—since it was on silent and could only buzz—in her school bag began to irritate her.

Working on automatic, she opened the bag and made to turn the phone off, but the voice messages indicator flashed at her. With a pronounced scowl, she input the code for them to play.

'Hey, Nanako, umm, it's me, Chie, uhh, did you hear the news? Someone was murdered last night, same way as the others. Should we meet up? Call me back.'

The automated mail box's robotic voice informed her of the call time: yesterday morning.

'Okay, Nanako we've got more info. I talked to Yosuke and he says the victim was K-King Moron! I can't believe it... Anyway, we're at the food court and we're gonna go talk to Teddie now, so if you can't reach us, well, you know where we are.'

Nanako sniffled, because she'd thought yesterday had been such a good day.

'Nanako! Yosuke here. Uh, we talked to Teddie and he said no one was thrown in there at all. It doesn't make any sense! I guess he was killed on our side. Umm, I guess we'll talk about it tomorrow. Man, I wonder who our new homeroom teacher will be... It's crazy, isn't it? I bet they can't—'

A peal of thunder in the distance interrupted his next words, and then the message was over. There were more messages, but she was now staring into the soupy sky. The weather was as confused as she was. It didn't know what it was doing. The sun kept poking through the black clouds to shine brightly at her.

The phone buzzed in her hand, the sudden sensation almost causing her to drop it.

This time, the caller was her mother.

With tears of frustration streaming down her face, she hurled her phone over the cliff.

Then she leaned back against the nearest tree and slid down against the bark until she was on the ground, hugging her knees.

* * *

She spent the entire night out there at the overlook, completely unaware of the passage of time around her.

Withdrawn into herself, she didn't feel the coldness of the steady rain or notice how thoroughly soaked she was from it. She didn't hear the threatening rumble of thunder in the distance.

She was only pulled back to reality when she heard the desperate cry of her name.

"Nanako!?"

Nanako whimpered against the tree behind her. She didn't want to deal with people, not now, no...

The cry repeated, and she buried her face in her arms and hoped Saki would go away.

"Oh my god..."

She bit her lip, knowing she must've been spotted. A sudden hand on her arm made her flinch away, but it gripped her and held her in place.

"Nanako?" Saki whispered. "Look at me, please."

She didn't want to.

"Please."

She sighed and lifted her head, greeted by Saki's worried face.

Saki wrapped her arm around Nanako, ignoring how filthy and soaked she was from the rain, and tried angling her umbrella over the both of them. She pulled Nanako close to her body.

Nanako tried to form words, but then shook her head.

Saki squeezed. "I think I know," she said. "You thought you had everything figured out, but then some shit happened. Is that right?"

Nanako broke down and wept against Saki's chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saki's words here are a callback to her first social link event with Nanako back in [chapter 8.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2394935/chapters/5824760)
> 
> I hope the tragedy came as a surprise, even if you were expecting it, due to the dichotomy between the two days.
> 
> So Aunt Seta is a social link now (similar to the original Temperance, when you think about it), but... what about the Hierophant?
> 
> We toyed with the idea of killing off Ms. Kashiwagi instead, but Nanako wouldn't really be affected by that, would she? 
> 
> Next Chapter: The Afterglow
> 
> Good things come to an end.


	28. The Afterglow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Saki's help, Nanako begins to recover from the shock.

Saki rubbed Nanako's back and cooed at her until she was all cried out. When it was over, it was difficult to tell what had soaked her clothes more: the tears or the rain.

"S-Senpai..." Nanako eventually croaked after a several coughs and sniffles. "You're all d-dirty... Y-you shouldn't have..." She gripped Saki's school uniform blouse and tried to dust it off, but only succeeded in smearing more dirt over it.

"That's not important right now," Saki told her. "Nanako, really... You worried everyone."

There was a long moment of silence before Nanako muttered, "Mr. Morooka's dead." She stirred restlessly in Saki's arms. "He shouldn't be dead, no, no."

"You're really... You really cared about him," Saki noted with quiet wonder.

"He w-was my teacher..." Nanako's eyes grew heavy with more tears. She tried wiping them on her sleeve, but it was ineffective due to how wet it was already.

"Honestly, Nanako..." Saki murmured. "I'm jealous."

Nanako blinked at her.

"I'm jealous," she repeated. "I'm jealous that you are able to show grief. I didn't cry when my brother died. I went straight from stunned to resentment with no room for grief." She brushed away some of Nanako's tears with her fingertips. "I think you're the only person I've seen truly grieve... well, aside from my parents..."

"N-no one knew him, Senpai," Nanako said.

"People are sad that someone died, but that's as far as it goes. Few seem to be sad that Mr. Morooka, in particular, is dead..."

"He could be a dick," Nanako admitted. "B-but there was so much more to him. I was working on it! I w-was gonna figure him out. But he's dead and now... now I'll never get a chance to... to find out what made him Mr. Morooka."

"If anyone could find out, it would have been you," Saki murmured.

"He was worried about me, did you know?" Nanako looked her in the face. "A-and other students, too. He wasn't what everyone thought, what he showed the world."

"I was told he said some awful things about my brother," Saki said, "but when I met him in the hall, his face held nothing but sympathy. I wasn't sure what to think."

Nanako sniffled again, and for a long while, the only sound was the patter of rain and the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance.

"Nanako, are you ready to go back?" Saki asked softly.

"Don't want to," Nanako muttered.

"I'll stay with you as long as you need me," Saki told her.

"Wh-what if I decide to stay right here for a week?" Nanako joked weakly.

"Aiya delivers anywhere," Saki said, smiling at her. "You have to be starving." She opened her purse and handed Nanako a candy bar and forced her to eat it.

"Gotta use the bathroom more than anything," Nanako admitted in a mutter. It hit her all at once right then: hunger, weariness, exhaustion.

"Come on, come on." Saki stood up and pulled her up by an arm. Nanako staggered weakly, her stiff legs not ready to handle her own weight, but her friend caught her and kept her upright. "Let's get you home and cleaned up. You might not be alone, by the way. A detective was there earlier."

Nanako knew she was not in any state to be seen by Adachi-san or Shirogane-san, but couldn't bring herself to care. "What time is it?" she asked. "Is school still in session?"

"It's early afternoon. Yes, I skipped to look for you. What are friends for?" Saki smiled at her without much humor. "I don't know if your other friends skipped, but I do know everyone's been calling you nonstop. That's how I found you. I found your phone on the road at the bottom of the cliff." She held out the phone, its screen and frame cracked from the impact of its dive.

She allowed Saki to lead her down from the overlook. Saki held her arm and carried the simple yellow umbrella between them. They didn't speak for the first five minutes until Nanako told her she could get the rest of the way home on her own.

Saki gave her an unamused look. "I don't think I trust you. Besides, you don't have an umbrella."

"Really, Senpai, I'm f-fine," she claimed. "I'm already wet."

"We aren't that far from your home," Saki said, and her tone brooked no dispute.

Soon they reached the familiar quiet street that was home to the Seta Residence. They passed the untended garden situated against the house's western fence and stopped at the front door. Nanako hardly acknowledged that there were two cars parked under the carport.

She fumbled for the keys in her school bag, but Saki tried the door and it was already unlocked.

"Told you someone was around your place," Saki murmured as she pushed open the door. She lowered her umbrella, set it against the inner wall, and turned to Nanako. "All right. Over the stoop and in you go. Shoes off."

Nanako began to struggle with one of her shoes—so wet were her socks that it seemed to create a sort of vacuum within the shoe, keeping her foot trapped within it. Saki bent down and helped her out of it.

"Thanks," Nanako mumbled.

"D-don't thank me yet," Saki said uneasily, looking down the hallway. "Uhh... I think your family takes over from here."

"...You can lea—" 

Nanako paused, because she had followed Saki's gaze. Standing there by the kitchen table was her father, Ryotaro Dojima.

"—ve," she finished tonelessly.

"Nanako?" her father said. His hard-lined face was paler than she could ever remember seeing it. "Nanako! Where the hell have you been?"

Nanako didn't answer.

He stalked forward and stopped, an aghast look overcoming his features as he took in her disheveled appearance. "What the hell happened to you!?" When she continued not to respond, he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Answer me, Nanako!"

"She's clearly in no condition for an interrogation," Saki interrupted with a look of defiance on her face.

Dojima turned his head and blinked at Saki. "What happened to my daughter?" he demanded in a low voice.

"She's not hurt. Not physically, anyway... She mostly needs a bath and a good meal."

Dojima turned back to Nanako and gently put his hand under her chin to force her look him in the eyes.

She stared back expressionlessly.

"I'll give her a bath," Saki announced. "Show me where the bathroom is."

After a long moment, Dojima silently led her down the hall, and Saki pulled Nanako along behind her.

* * *

Saki sat Nanako at the stool before the wash basin and began to pull the twigs and leaves out of Nanako's hair. After that, she unbuttoned Nanako's blouse and pulled it off. The wet clothing stuck to her skin so it took some effort to remove it. Her mind elsewhere, Nanako didn't help, so it was especially difficult for Saki.

"Arms up," Saki ordered. "Come on, sports bras don't come off that easy. You're gonna have to help."

"S-sorry, Senpai," Nanako murmured. Her bare arms were covered in goosebumps and she began to shiver. Saki had already began to fill the tub with hot water.

After removing her skirt and undergarments, Saki began to scrub her down with a long-handled scrubbing brush. "Your skin's not that dirty," she observed. "Just... your hair is a mess. I really resent what you've done to it."

There was no answer.

"Nanako, come on," Saki pleaded. "At least tell me about that man out there. That's your dad? He's not supposed to be here, isn't he?"

"Don't know why he's here," Nanako muttered. "S'posed to be in Tokyo."

"He's here because of you, Nanako. It's pretty obvious."

Nanako stared at the floor. Saki proceeded to clean her hair with shampoo and conditioner until it was in passable condition.

After she was all cleaned up, Saki pulled her up and guided her into the hot water of the tub. Nanako sighed as the warmth flowed into her. She felt somewhat more alive from it. Somewhat.

Saki stayed outside the tub, but leaned against it to look at Nanako while she talked. "He looked so angry that I thought he was going to hit you, but then he looked so scared."

"He wouldn't hit me," Nanako murmured, inspired just enough to defend her father.

"He came all the way from Tokyo," Saki said quietly. "I think—hey, Nanako, stay with me!"

Nanako was leaning back with her eyes closed. "T-tired," she muttered. She rubbed her eyes and sniffled. "J-just wanna... be left alone..."

"I know you want to, but you're going to have to stay up for a little longer, okay?"

"Senpai..."

"Yes?"

"Why Mr. Morooka? Why...?"

* * *

In the end, Nanako didn't stay conscious long enough to say even one word to her father. Saki had pulled her out of the bath and dressed her in her pajamas and dragged her right into her futon, where she dropped off almost immediately into dreamless sleep.

When she woke up, she remained lying in the futon and stared out at her room. After a moment, she heard the sound of someone turning the page of a book. She scanned the room and found her dad on her couch, reading what appeared to be one of her Loveline manga.

It didn't take him long to notice she was awake, detective instincts apparently in full swing. "Nanako?" He set the book down on the work table, stood up, and moved to her side, placing a rough hand on her forehead. "Are you all right?"

She looked into his familiar face. That square jaw and the stubble on his chin, somewhat shaggier than normal... The concern in his eyes was something new, though. "No, Dad," she admitted quietly. "I'm not all right."

His grip on her forehead unconsciously tightened. "Did someone hurt you? I need to know."

"N-no, Dad..."

"One of your little friends mentioned that you might have been kidnapped, but then he tried to take back his words, and..." He growled his frustration.

She carefully pried his hand from her head. "I wasn't kidnapped or anything. I was just out of it. Really."

"Your teacher," he said. "I heard through Konishi. Nanako..."

She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable lecture about being responsible, about how although what had happened was sad, she shouldn't have run away like she did.

"One of the reasons I sent you here," Dojima said slowly, "was to get you away from all the murder and violence that I have to deal with. And now I find that you're being exposed to it anyway." He paused, looking down at her. "I don't know what to do."

"Dad..." she said. She tried to sit up, and her father picked her up in an uncharacteristic embrace.

"Dammit, Nanako. What the hell is wrong with this world?"

Nanako was going to crack a weak joke that if they knew, he'd be out of a job, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a whimper. She clung to her father and didn't let go for a long time.

* * *

Her dad made breakfast for her, but it turned out to be lunch since it was Wednesday afternoon already. She'd essentially slept through the entirety of Tuesday.

"Ryoko called out yesterday, but she couldn't manage it today. And you're safe now, so..." he said while buttering up her toast. "You gave everyone a scare."

"I'm sorry," she said simply.

Dojima shrugged. "You're safe," he repeated. "You're going to have a lot of people to answer to, though. Had to turn that off." He pointed with the butter knife at her cell phone on the counter.

She blinked at it. So it was still working despite the cracked screen and being thoroughly soaked from the rain.

He set the plate of toast in front of her, then sat across from her with a serious expression on his face. "Do you think you'll be able to go to school tomorrow?"

She ate the entire piece of toast before answering. It was a hard question, and she was starving. She stared down at her plate, vaguely considering eating the crumbs. "I think so," she finally admitted.

"Your teacher won't be there," he said, not unkindly—he was reminding her that she'd be reminded of it as soon as she went into the classroom.

"Yeah, I know," she whispered. She glanced up at him suddenly with calculating eyes. "Do they know who murdered him?"

"That's the local police department's job, honey," he reminded her. "I came here because of you, not because of a case. If you're all right, I'll be heading back to Tokyo this evening."

She watched his face closely and waited. She expected him to offer to bring her with him, to take her back home. Away from Inaba and all this.

But he didn't, and she was confused and somewhat hurt by it.

"Dad," she said, her tongue thick in her throat. "S-so soon?"

"They need me."

She nodded. He was a homicide detective. His job was important. People were relying on him... But this knowledge didn't stop her from wanting to cry. "Wh-when did you get here?" she asked to distract herself. "You drove all the way..." She recalled it was his car that had been in the driveway along with Aunt Seta's.

"Late Monday night." He wiped his face and sighed. "Look, Nanako. I didn't tell your mother about this. Figured she was too far removed to be allowed to worry until we found you. It's up to you to tell her. She knows about your teacher's death, however. It's all over the damned news." Nanako grimaced, not wanting to think about explaining anything to her mother at this time.

"By the way," her dad went on, "that Shirogane detective kid was around earlier. Don't know what the hell he wanted with you. He claimed it was just a courtesy call."

Dojima was glowering with suspicion. Nanako couldn't help herself from smiling faintly. Never change, Dad, she thought. She didn't feel like teasing him, however. "Probably just making sure I'm okay."

He grunted. "He seemed professional enough. Are you hungry? You look like you're about to eat the plate. How about we order some Aiya? You know... There's so much variety in food around us in Tokyo, but I still haven't found a place quite like Aiya."

"They should consider franchising," Nanako agreed. "Order some pork buns, please?"

* * *

The good food lightened the atmosphere, at any rate. Her dad even told her a story about how he and his friend Takeshi sometimes ordered takeout while they were in school. "We didn't have cell phones, so one of us had to go out and use the nearest pay phone..."

He rambled on, trying to cheer her up, and it almost worked. It would've been a perfect opportunity to find out more about her dad's childhood, and especially that Takeshi guy, but she simply wasn't in the mood. She let him talk without interruption so that his smoke-coarsened voice could soothe her ears.

All too soon, however, Dojima stood up from the table and picked up his car keys from the counter. He told Nanako that it was about time he headed home. "If I leave now, I can be there before midnight."

Now she perked up. "D-dad? Already? Can't you at least stay until Auntie comes home?"

"Honey..." He sighed heavily. "That will end up with me staying far longer than I wanted. Or is that your plan?" His lips drew into a smile, but only for a moment. He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, honey."

She wiped her eyes, and he hugged her, and then he left.

Alone now, Nanako stared into the empty takeout box in front of her. She wasn't going to regress into that mindless funk. The wheels were turning in her head.

Some bastard had killed Mr. Morooka. Some bastard that she was going to find, and... but first, she needed information.

All over the news, huh?

She turned on the television and stood there watching it. It was already set to a news channel. It was currently showing a weather report. She sighed in frustration and waited impatiently for it to end.

"And now back to our coverage of the Inaba Serial Murders. The third victim was Kinshiro Morooka, a schoolteacher at the local high school. The victim was discovered early Sunday morning at the apartment complex in which he was a resident. Authorities say he was killed by a blow to the head. The body had been strung up with bungee cords on the rooftop."

The camera cut to a shot of the crime scene, although the body had already been taken down. A cop was being interviewed in front of it. "We're currently pursuing motives," he said, "but we're dealing with a psychopath here. His motives might not make any damned sense to you or me."

The news narrator went on. "Mr. Morooka's loss has been a blow to Inaba, which had not seen another event like this since April."

"We thought it was over," said a female resident whose face was blurred out. "And it happened near the shopping district. It's going to kill business even more than Junes!"

They were turning a murder into a human interest story? Nanako growled at the screen.

"The serial killer has yet to be apprehended, and his identity remains a mystery. The police are offering a substantial reward for information that leads to his capture."

The segment went on to recap the identities of previous victims, then ended with, "The community's greatest concern: who will be next?"

"I know who's next," she muttered to herself, turning off the news in disgust.

This wasn't the serial killer's work. A copycat murder, that's what this was. Some sick bastard was bored and killed Morooka just to be on the news. Just to see the police scramble and to see the fear invoked in the public.

So now they had two killers to worry about. The original and this new one. The new one took priority—it was personal now.

She'd find him. She'd—

The front door opened and her aunt entered the house. "Oh, Nanako-chan," the woman said by way of greeting. "You're up and about. And I see my brother has left already."

Nanako ignored her because her eyes had locked onto the detective behind her. "Adachi-san," she breathed.

"Hello!" Adachi greeted. "Heard you went missing. Glad you turned up, Nanako-kun. It wasn't any foul play, was it?"

Souji stepped out from behind his mother's shadow, and the little boy's eyes lit up when he saw Nanako. With a small cry he ran to her and hugged her legs. "B-big sis...! You're back..."

Adachi's brown patterned tie was loosened, and he looked a little haggard. He might not have been allowed to sleep much lately. "Who are the suspects?" Nanako demanded of him. "Who killed my teacher?"

"Uh," said Adachi. "Well, we're still looking into the connection—"

"Not good enough," she interrupted. "I want names."

"Nanako-chan!" Aunt Seta scolded. "Tohru-san is here to relax. These last few days have been rough for him. You should understand."

"Big sis...?"

"I want names," Nanako repeated in a low hiss. Her next words were shot off in rapid succession. "And the details! Who found the body? When was it found? Estimated time of death? What caused the death blow? Was it instantaneous?"

"...Can I have dinner first?" Adachi gave her a wistful grin... which was wiped off by her withering glare.

"He wasn't murdered by the serial killer," she informed him. "It's freaking obvious. If your fellows are trying to connect them, it's a bloody waste of time and energy."

Adachi blinked at her. "Has Shirogane-kun been around here? That kid was saying the same thing. But, ehh, we shouldn't be talking about murder at the dinner table."

"Then let's go into another room," she suggested flatly. "Or better yet, outside." She pulled away from Souji's hug to stride towards the front door, where she made an impatient gesture for Adachi to follow. "You're going to tell me everything."

"Nanako-chan!" said Aunt Seta. She had her hands on her hips, the universal posture of a frustrated mother. "Really! You're being ridiculous. I didn't invite Tohru-san over for your benefit. I know you're Ryotaro's daughter and you want to follow in his footsteps, but I won't have you treat him like this. He is a guest."

Adachi rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, it's all right, but there isn't much you need to know, Nanako-kun. You should leave it to us adults. We'll catch him."

"You haven't caught the serial killer," Nanako pointed out. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because we already have a suspe—err." He cut himself off with an awkward chuckle. "J-just leave it to us."

"You have a suspect!?" she shouted. "Give me the damned name, and then you can eat!"

"Nanako Dojima!" Aunt Seta shouted in her scolding-a-child voice.

"It's confidential," Adachi replied. "It's more than my job is worth to tell you. But I will say this, Nanako-kun. I didn't go to police academy for nothing. We will catch the bastard... or I wasn't Sachio Seta's partner."

She stared at him, and he stared evenly back. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd used her uncle's name just to shut the argument down.

This man had cunning.

She grabbed her phone from the counter and marched out of the house. If Adachi was going to be like that, well, she could get the information another way.

Not far down the street, she turned on her phone. There were lots of read text messages that she didn't remember reading. She ignored them all, fingers automatically scrolling across the cracked screen to a number she'd never used.

It took a few rings before the person picked up. "Shirogane. Who is this?" Naoto sounded tired and possibly cross.

"It's Nanako," she answered swiftly. "Shirogane-san, let's not waste time. Who's the suspect?"

"Nanako-san," he murmured. "I'm glad you're with us once again. As for the suspect in Mr. Morooka's killing, the name has ridiculously been withheld from me as the local police are trying to pursue him on their own."

"That's bullshit."

"Indeed. What I have been able to ascertain, however, is that the suspect is a male high schooler. The authorities have apparently already built up a fairly strong case against him. It's only a matter of time before he is apprehended."

That would have been good news if Nanako hadn't wanted to 'apprehend' the bastard herself.

Naoto went on. "My concern is what they will do with him when he is captured. I suspect that they'll try to wring a confession out of him for the murders of Ms. Yamano and Naoki Konishi. I'm currently building a portfolio of evidence that indicates Mr. Morooka's death is not the serial killer's doing. Whether the heads of the investigation will listen to me is questionable, but my hope is that they won't be able to ignore hard evidence when it is set before them."

"What evidence do you have so far?" Nanako inquired. "The cause of death should be a huge point in your favor."

"Yes, and there is evidence from the crime scene as well. The previous victims were not strung up by bungee cords, for example. The body's display was a rather pitiful attempt at copying the true serial killer's methodology, and the victim's clothes were rustled up due to the killer dragging his body to the roof. There is high hope for some DNA evidence, but as far as I am aware, the labs have yet to report anything at the moment."

"As soon as you learn the suspect's identity," Nanako said, "or anything that will help identify him, let me know. I can help you investigate him among the high school students. Even if he doesn't go to Yasogami, someone might know him from middle school."

"Of course," Naoto replied. "And I trust you will inform me immediately if the 'other side' becomes involved in any capacity."

"I will," Nanako vowed.

She ended the call and scowled down at her phone. The call hadn't taken very long. She didn't want to go home and endure a pointless family dinner. She'd already eaten with her father, and Adachi would still be there.

It was still early. She marched on down to Junes. There were several things she needed to acquire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might have been amusing to have Dojima meet Adachi in this universe, but we decided against it since it'd take away from the point of the scene. 
> 
> Next Chapter: Resolve
> 
> Nanako finds a new resolution in her heart.


	29. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her mind set, Nanako returns to school and throws herself into a new investigation.

[7/14: Thursday]

Nanako kicked open the door to 2-2, interrupting that harlot of a teacher, Kashiwagi, talking about—who knew, who cared? All eyes were instantly looking in her direction instead.

"Class started ten minutes ago," Kashiwagi snapped at her, trying to regain the class's attention, but the room was full of surprised mutterings and whispers. Kashiwagi looked her up and down. "And that uniform is hardly regulation. Are you even in the right place?"

Part of the commotion was due to Nanako's new wardrobe. Gone was the short uniform skirt, replaced by a long one that flowed down to her calves, its band tied high on her waist like a kimono. The blouse was modified, too, shorter and loose around her body. Her hair flowed free; the uniform's yellow scarf was tied around her head so that it resembled a hairband.

Nanako tilted her head, considering the teacher. "Regulation or not," she answered evenly, "it's what I'm choosing to wear from now on."

Kashiwagi held her fingers against her cheek in thought. After a moment, her expression brightened. "Well, the boys are hardly going to be interested in that. Go take your seat."

Nanako stared at her. As if impressing boys was the point to life... What a disgusting woman Kashiwagi was. She shook her head and walked with calculated strides to her desk. Before sitting, she tapped under Yosuke's chin with a capped pen to get him to close his mouth, which had probably been hanging open ever since she'd entered the room. She took her seat, making eye contact for just a moment with Chie in the seat next to her.

"I didn't even know our uniform had a long skirt option," Chie eventually whispered.

Nanako's lips turned up for only a moment.

"'From now on'?" Yosuke squeaked behind her. "Wha—"

"We'll meet together at lunch," Nanako interrupted. "Until then, shut up."

* * *

Nanako didn't respond to any questions about her appearance, and there were plenty from the few people brave enough to approach her during the breaks between classes. When asked, she simply shook her head, her mouth a thin line.

Yosuke remained speechless, and Chie also seemed somewhat worried. Yukiko, on the other hand, told her that she'd always wanted to try wearing the long skirt. "I imagine that it'd make you feel strong!" she said.

"It is empowering," Nanako admitted. Since it was lunchtime now, she turned her head slightly and told Yosuke to go get Kanji and meet her at the school's roof. He essentially fled the room. It almost made Nanako smile. Almost.

A few minutes later, she sat herself down on one of the metal outcroppings present on the roof. Yukiko and Chie sat together kitty-corner to her. Neither said anything, and she didn't have anything to say to them, not really, and so they waited in silence until Yosuke arrived with Kanji.

Yosuke had also brought her a drink, which he held out to her gingerly like a peace offering. He quickly retracted his hand when she took it from him. She set the drink next to her, wiped her hands on her long skirt, then looked up at Kanji who was looming before her.

Kanji took a seat right next to her. "Senpai!" he said. "That outfit's awesome. You give 'em what they're asking for."

"I'm glad you approve," Nanako replied. "But it's not important."

"It's n-not important?" Yosuke stuttered. Unlike the rest of the squad, he hadn't taken a seat. He was still standing there by his lonesome. "You're dressed like a girl gang leader!"

"It's not important," she repeated. "What is important is finding Mr. Morooka's murderer."

"Well, y-yeah," he said, "but..."

"Are you going to help or not?" she interrupted.

"Of course I am, but..."

"Then sit down, shut up, and listen."

He blinked at her in dismay, but then walked over to Yukiko and sat next to her, rather far away from Nanako.

Whatever. It was time to get down to business. "The police already have a suspect," she informed them. "Adachi-san admitted it last night."

"So the culprit slipped up?" Yosuke asked, relieved despite his discomfort. "They're finally on the serial killer's trail..."

"They're not," she corrected. "What, you think Mr. Morooka was killed by the serial killer? Please."

"But... who else could have done it?" Chie asked. "We figured that since Yukiko and Kanji-kun were saved, the killer got desperate and killed the next victim in our world instead."

"You're telling me the serial killer dragged Mr. Morooka's body all the way up to the roof instead of shoving it into the nearest TV? And strung it up with bungee cords himself?"

"Maybe he didn't have a TV handy?" Yosuke suggested.

Nanako sighed. She looked up at Kanji. "Please tell me, Kanji-kun, that you don't think the same."

Kanji shook his head. "Nah. The serial killer has a truck, right? Probably keeps a TV in the trunk. Would've been helluva lot easier for him to bring a body down to the parking lot than up to the roof. Doesn't make sense he'd go to all that effort."

"Yosuke, Chie." Nanako sighed. "We're dealing with a copycat killer who didn't even do a very good job hiding the fact. Bungee cords, really?"

"A copycat killer," Yosuke repeated. "That does make sense, considering how different the methods were. Mr. Morooka died of a head wound. They could've used a poison or drugs to mimic the other murders. Who'd be so careless to copy it so poorly?"

"A high schooler," Nanako answered, not bothering to hide her contempt. Yosuke looked downcast at her tone, but she didn't care. "Anyway, DEATH Squad. We have a rat to weed out now. You've lived here longer than I have. Any murderous-looking kids in Yasogami High? Or someone who you remember from middle school, who knows? Or someone who's conspicuously absent because he's on the damned run from the police at this very moment."

"I can't think of anyone," Yukiko murmured after a long moment.

"Me neither," said Chie.

"Think harder," Nanako demanded.

"Uhh, Senpai," Kanji said cautiously. "Is it all right to judge by looks? I mean, people tell me I look murderous, but I'd never kill anyone."

His remark softened Nanako, if only for a moment. "You're right," she said. Then the moment ended. Nanako slammed her fist into the metal outcropping so hard that it would leave a bruise. "There has to be something we can do to find the bastard!"

"Uh, I think you need to calm down, Nanako," Chie said, her eyes wide.

"Y-yeah," Yosuke followed up. "If the police already have a suspect, they're pursuing him, right? Should we even get involved?"

"Calm down?" she asked. She rose suddenly to her feet. "Calm down? Mr. Morooka was killed! Someone clobbered him and hung him up like holiday lights! That someone is going to pay for this—"

Her phone rang. Derailed, she checked the name and her countenance brightened. It was Naoto! He was far more reliable than these people.

She stalked away from her friends to answer the call. "Yeah? What've you got?" she said, ignoring formality in her hunger for information.

"I've discovered the name of the private school the suspect in Mr. Morooka's death attends." Naoto proceeded to relay the name and details. "I'll soon have the student's identity narrowed down."

"Why are they not telling you who it is? It's ridiculous!"

"I won't argue that point," Naoto agreed. "Regardless, I will keep you informed."

Nanako ran her thumb idly over the cracks in her phone's screen for several moments before putting it away. Then she returned to her friends. She hadn't been on the phone very long, but they had started to eat lunch without her. She wasn't hungry at all and it kind of annoyed her that they were. On some level she knew she was being harsh towards them, but she wasn't in the mindset to care in the least.

She informed them of the suspect's school, but none of them knew anyone who went there. Very frustrating. She was stuck waiting on Naoto for further information. What the hell could she do on her own?

She could check out the crime scene, but that had to have been picked over by now. She could corner Adachi-san at Junes and demand answers. She could...

"Uh, Senpai? The bell just rang. We gotta head back to class."

She blinked. Kanji was standing near her, scratching the back of his neck. The others seemed to have elected him to be the one to approach her. "Yeah, sure."

"Senpai, uh..."

"Yes, Kanji-kun?"

"We gonna meet up after school or anythin'?"

She shook her head.

"It's just," he went on, "we got exams next week, so... Yukiko-senpai and the rest were thinkin' of having a study group again. If you weren't, uh, having any other plans."

"They can study," she told him.

"You're invited too, Senpai."

Study... Mr. Morooka's last words to her were to exhort her to study. She scowled at the memory. Yeah, she had to do better on her exams. She'd promised. "Yeah, fine. At Junes?"

"S-secret headquarters, Senpai!" Kanji corrected.

He was trying to cheer her up, but she only nodded in response and then headed down the stairwell to return to class.

* * *

[7/16: Saturday]

Another rainy day. The Midnight Channel would be on tonight.

Hmph. As if that mattered.

According to Yosuke, it had showed a blank screen on Tuesday night. Nanako doubted that was going to change. She wasn't going to bother watching it tonight, although she might be awake in time to tune in. Her sleep schedule was still a bit haywire from the beginning of the week.

Her focus was fixed on the copycat killer. Studying with her friends the last two days had been partly a ruse. She'd used the opportunity to search Junes up and down, but apparently Detective Adachi was no longer wasting his time there. Good for him, finally getting his ass in gear and trying to solve the damned murders. There was a limit to how sympathetic she could be, and after Wednesday night, he'd crossed it. But it inconvenienced her, because she couldn't corner him and extract further information if she couldn't find the damned guy.

On the bright side, she had an appointment with Naoto right after school today. She was to meet the boy at his apartment. He lived near the police department, which meant he lived south of Junes—Nanako passed the superstore on the way there. The apartment complex had two floors, but the detective lived on the first. His room wasn't difficult to find, and she didn't hesitate in knocking on the door.

"Ah, Nanako-san. Surprisingly punctual," Naoto said upon opening the door for her. A grim little smile crossed his features.

Nanako stared at him. Was that supposed to be a joke? "You of all people should know I'm serious about all this," she muttered.

"I thought you might arrive late due to your friends," he explained. "I'm aware through Kanji-san that you have exams next week."

"Oh. Right." Nanako hadn't given her friends any thought when school let out today. She'd made a bee line straight for the detective's apartment. 

"Well, do come in," Naoto invited.

In contrast to her expectations on what a detective's living space should look like, the apartment was open, airy, and uncluttered. Well, minus the tea table, which was covered in so many stacks of paper that its surface wasn't visible. The living room was rather empty overall—a cardboard box in the corner reminded Nanako of her own room at the Seta residence since she still had a few moving boxes lying around. It would have been lit by natural lighting from the large window set in the eastern wall if it wasn't for the rain. Instead, a standing lamp in the corner did the job.

Naoto directed her to sit at the tea table. At a glance, the papers were related to the case. "I'm sorry. I don't have a second cushion," he said. "Please make do with the pillow. In fact, I've never entertained a guest here."

The detective excused himself to another room, promising to be back in a moment, and before she had a real chance to look through the nearest stack of papers, he returned with a tea tray. He served her tea in a cup that was ceramic and probably expensive.

"You looked like you could use a cup," Naoto murmured after sipping his own.

"You too," Nanako said. Now that the detective was sitting, she could see that he hadn't much sleep, and his hair under the cap seemed to be even more unkempt than usual.

"Indeed. Shall we get to business?" Naoto set his cup down on a saucer on the table. "I mentioned before that I'd been preparing an evidence portfolio, a collection of data that indicates this recent murder was a copy-cat killing. I'd like to review it with you since you are equally invested in the end result."

He slid a manilla folder in front of her. Without a word, she opened it and began to read.

It began with an in-depth report of the facts regarding Mayumi Yamano's death, including pictures from the crime scene that Naoto must have acquired from the police department. Nanako hadn't seen them before, so it was quite interesting to discover how exactly the body had been strung up by, well, the inscrutable inner workings of the TV World. How did the body exit the TV like that, after all? And how did the TV World decide where to put the body? It didn't seem to have any relationship to location in the real world, unlike the dungeons. Teddie had no idea, of course. Nanako sighed to herself. The once-interesting layers of mystery now only served to frustrate her.

The next few pages detailed the similarities between Naoki Konishi's death and the announcer's, including the coroner's testimony and several pictures of the crime scene that were marked up with Naoto's notes. Nanako read through the analysis carefully. She pointed out a minor grammar mistake, and Naoto made a note to himself on a notepad to fix it later.

"Take a deep breath," Naoto said suddenly as she began to turn to the next page. She glanced up at him for a moment, but, focused on the report, didn't take his advice.

Maybe she should have, because she blanched and nearly pushed the entire folder away.

She should have known that Naoto was so thorough that he would procure several pictures of Morooka's dead body.

She probably should have turned right past the page, gone straight to the next one, but she was nothing if not stubborn. And if she really wanted to be a detective, too, she had to be able to be objective even when faced with something so personal.

Naoto made several notes on the location of the fatal head wound. The severity of the blow, the angle of attack.

"If it helps, death was likely instantaneous." Naoto's voice was soft.

"It was premeditated," Nanako stated. "He was taken by surprise."

She didn't look up from the report, but she saw Naoto nod at the edge of her vision. "That's my belief as well, but the evidence as it is can't be taken as conclusive. It's possible that Mr. Morooka had been speaking with his assailant before the attack, and then turned away, giving the culprit an opportunity that he couldn't resist."

"The murderer was a high schooler," Nanako murmured.

"A former student of his, or perhaps a fellow resident at the apartment complex. I've looked into that possibility, but all of my attempts at progress are being severely hampered." The look on Naoto's face was not a pretty one. "As a result, I've been focusing on this report for the time being."

Knowing Mr. Morooka, he'd probably railed against the kid before. Maybe about his appearance or his activities or maybe without any reason at all. He'd enjoyed ranting at anyone under twenty just because he could. The killer shouldn't have taken it personally. Morooka had been fairly indiscriminate in his personal attacks during class, although Nanako couldn't remember a time he'd singled out Yukiko, but that was probably because she was a good student more than anything.

Something had made the killer snap. Maybe it wasn't even Morooka's words to him, but some desire for fame or attention. A shut-in whose own parents complained about his hobbies but never bothered to try to change them, only making him more bitter towards life.

Nanako would be sympathetic if he hadn't allowed it to result in murder.

"Well, I don't see any flaws in your analysis," Nanako told the detective. "It's thorough."

"Thank you. I'll be presenting it to the authorities soon. Is there anything further you wish to discuss with me since you're here?"

It didn't even cross her mind to ask him personal questions. She simply shook her head.

* * *

Nanako couldn't stop thinking about Morooka on the walk home. If he'd known he was going to die, would he have changed his attitude at all? No, he probably would have shrugged and said, "That's life." Here one minute, dead the next.

The very thought made her heartsick.

What would he say about his death? She wasn't very well versed in philosophy. There wasn't any myth about someone being clobbered to death, was there?

With these dark thoughts at the forefront of her mind, she walked right by the Seta residence before deciding she really didn't want to go home at all. She stopped and stared up at the rainclouds, listened to the patter of the rain on her umbrella.

She started walking again and turned into the central shopping district and headed straight for the Moel gas station.

It was almost as if Izaya was waiting for her. He touched the brim to his baseball cap and adjusted it on his head slightly, the only greeting he gave her when she joined him under the station's high awning. As usual, there weren't any customers around due to the rain, so they were alone.

They stared out into the rain together for a long time.

"There's something different about you," Izaya eventually commented.

"Don't you ask about the skirt," she said sullenly. "Getting enough of that everywhere else."

"Acrimony," Izaya remarked, snapping his fingers. "That's what it is. The fire within you... it's different today. Something's happened to anger you." He put his hand to his chin and regarded her.

She looked coolly back at him. "Remember how you talked about, y'know, revenge?"

He tilted his head as if to say, 'go on.'

"I kind of want it," she told him frankly.

"Intriguing," he said. "Revenge... or justice?"

She paused. What was it she really wanted...? Truth and Justice? That wasn't it at all. "Revenge. I want to catch the murderer with my own two hands."

"And then what? Give him a taste of his own medicine, as they say?"

She nodded. That was it exactly. "What do you think of that, Izaya-san?"

He scratched his chin, taking some time to answer. "The serial murders are a popular topic around these parts. People are so curious about the killer. Who is he? Why did he do it? And everyone has their own ideas. It's all pointless speculation, and yet no one can seem to let their opinions go."

"If the media didn't report on it every minute," Nanako said, "then maybe there wouldn't even be a damned copycat killer."

Izaya shrugged. "The media only reports on what people find the most interesting. They are capitalizing on human nature, and that won't change unless the heart can be changed." He paused, looking at her. "Yes, fickle though the heart is, the worst parts of it have remained constant over the eons. Foolish pride, burning hatred, envy and greed... They capture attention because they are so deep-seated in the soul."

"And even when the murderer is dealt with, people are just gonna move on to the next sensational scandal," Nanako commented with a sigh.

"'Dealt with.' That's an interesting way of putting it. I'm curious now. How exactly do you plan on 'dealing with' him?"

"Oh, don't worry about the details, Izaya-san. Just know that he'll deserve everything I'll do to him."

"Everything?" Izaya queried with a thin smile. "Hmhmhm... Whether it's justified or not is subjective, you must realize. Whether you strangle him to death because it makes you feel powerful or because you think that's the punishment he deserves—it's ultimately unimportant. The fact that you strangled him... Have you heard that actions speak louder than words?"

Her brow knit together in thought. "What are you getting at? That real justice would be letting the bastard live, putting him in prison and letting society mete out its own brand of punishment?"

"Not at all. I am saying that you could go ahead and kill him in the most painful way imaginable while claiming justice. And who could claim otherwise? Who has the right to? It's justice to you." He chuckled humorlessly. "Ah, Nanako. The purpose of your actions can only be decided by you. You should take the time to determine it—for your own sake. You don't want to live with regrets."

She wasn't going to regret a damn thing. The murderer was going to feel justice. Nanako-brand justice. Rule #1 was out the window a long time ago. 

Lost in her thoughts, she was completely unaware of the large grin on Izaya's face behind her.

* * *

After bidding farewell to Izaya, Nanako trudged north through the shopping district.

Up ahead, she saw a man standing in the rain without an umbrella. Her heart leaped into her throat. She'd just left Izaya, there was no way he could've gotten ahead of her like this—

It wasn't Izaya. Upon closer inspection, the man had short, dark hair. He was staring down at the ground a few feet away from him. His shoulders were hunched, but other than that, he didn't seem to notice the rain soaking into him at all.

She stopped to stare at him and wondered if she should approach. She wasn't feeling particularly sociable at the moment, but no one stood out in the pouring rain like this without a reason.

She ignored him for the moment and went into the general store. She bought a cheap umbrella from the old lady, and then approached the man. "Excuse me. Umm."

The man slowly looked up at her. She almost jumped in surprise; she recognized him from the news—Taro Namatame, the man who'd been having an affair on his wife with Mayumi Yamano. That's right, he was supposed to live around here.

His soulful eyes made him look almost like a sad puppy. "Err," she said, "well, I thought you might want an umbrella." She handed the spare out to him.

He stared at it. A puppy? No, he was more like Souji right now... But finally he took it. "Thank you," he said simply.

She thought of offering some encouraging words, but it was obvious that nothing was going to help this guy. He'd probably heard it all before.

As she walked back home, she considered how she needed to deal with Morooka's killer quickly so that she could return her focus to the serial killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nanako's new wardrobe is a sukeban's garb. The word 'sukeban' means 'delinquent girl' or 'boss girl.' They don't have a good reputation—think of how people react to Kanji's appearance and apply it to her. And remember that Morooka had once called her a delinquent. 
> 
> An equivalent in other media is the 'yankee' Arisa Uotani in _Fruits Basket,_ who wears the same kind of long skirt that Nanako has now adopted. Another example is Makoto Kino in _Sailor Moon_.
> 
> Next Chapter: Lost and Found
> 
> Exam week ends on a bittersweet note.


	30. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji isn't fooled by the change in his big sis, Naoto's deductions aren't well received, and Saki doesn't have a swimsuit.

[7/17: Sunday]

"Big sis...?"

Nanako was watching television with Souji. Rather, he was watching, and she was lost in thought. His voice brought her reluctantly down to earth. "What is it, Souji-kun?"

He looked down and fidgeted with the gummi bag, but he didn't answer.

"What is it?" she repeated with a tired sigh. "Come on, you know you can tell me."

He was still staring down at the gummi bag. "You didn't..." he mumbled. "You didn't sing the song..."

"Huh?"

"L-Loveline song... You didn't sing it."

She hadn't, and she wasn't finding much enjoyment in the show this morning. It felt like it wasn't her show anymore.

"Big sis... what's wrong?" He looked up at her with concern-filled eyes. "Y-you've been... s-so..."

The tone of his voice was what made her move around the tea table and wrap her arms around him. "Hey, it's okay," she cooed. "I worried you last week, didn't I? I'm better now."

Souji's body did not relax in her embrace. "Y-you're not better…" She frowned down at him and he looked up at her evenly. "You're not."

They were having a stare-down, and those gray eyes were winning. She broke the gaze first and tried to run her fingers through his hair to distract him. "I'm not better," she conceded. "But I will be. Soon."

As soon as she caught the killer.

He shifted away from her grasp. "You're different, big sis," he said, "and I don't like it."

"Sou-chan—"

"I know s-someone died," he said. "And I know… you won't see him again, just like I won't see Papa."

"S-Souji... your dad..."

But he wasn't going to be distracted for the moment. "Big sis... You're hurting, right? I w-wish Papa was still here, but I know he's gone. Mama told me it's okay to cry, s-so if you need to..."

"Your mom told you that?" she asked, surprised despite herself. Aunt Seta deserved more credit, didn't she? 

He gave a small nod, and Nanako scooted closer to scoop him up in her arms once again. "It's confusing sometimes," he confessed. "Papa loved me, and he was nice, and... But Mama, she put all our pictures of him away. Sh-she won't answer when I ask about him. Like with Adachi-san. A-and I just want to know why."

"She misses him, too," Nanako murmured.

"Wh-when Papa came home, she used to... to give him a kiss," the boy said quietly, like it was a secret. "I miss that. Because they were happy. I liked it… when they were happy."

"My parents do that too," she remarked. "It was cute, right? Seeing your parents in love."

He nodded against her chest. He was finally starting to relax. "I miss it a lot..." He sighed. "But now Papa's gone and this house is all sad. Sometimes I d-don't want to live here, but then Mama would be alone..."

"It's all right to feel that way, honey," she assured him. "Being sad, or angry, or feeling lonely... Everyone feels that way sometimes. If you need me, whenever you need me, I'm here."

"Y-you too, big sis," he said. He shifted in her arms to look up at her. "I'm happy... that you've come to live with us. I w-want you to get back to normal, but... I know you're sad, so..."

She made a sympathetic sound and kissed his forehead. "Thanks, Sou-chan. I... I've always wanted a little brother, so... I'm glad we're getting along." She drummed her fingers against his belly for a moment in thought. "I know you're worried about me. I can't... I can't make any promises. Buuuuuut, speaking of promises, you said we'd go swimming together. Why not this Saturday? And Takeyoshi-kun is coming too, no ifs, ands, or buts."

"All right," he said. "I haven't gone swimming in a while…"

"Look forward to it, Sou-chan! We can bring Rainbow Fish and Foxie, too, although Foxie can't get wet, especially after her surgery. Oh, Yuuta-kun can come too, if you'd like to invite him. It can be a little party!"

"I don't know," Souji said slowly, "if his mom will let him."

"I'll just kidnap him from the daycare. She won't even miss him."

After exam week, she'd need a break. Now she had even more reason to look forward to the weekend.

* * *

[7/20: Wednesday]

Nanako had been doing well so far in remaining focused on her exams this week—she'd even spent the Ocean Day holiday studying in her room—but it was ruined today by the rumor mill. 

The police had made an arrest. 

She should have been overjoyed. Should have been. 

She tried to find out more information, but no one had any hard facts, except that apparently the arrested culprit had confessed to all of the murders. It was completely ridiculous. And his name was still being withheld from the public.

She had a text message from Naoto.

MY PLACE COME ASAP AFTER SCHOOL 

Now her mind was even less prepared for today's exams. 

Apparently sensing her muddled mood, none of her friends even tried talking to her, though she sensed that Yosuke had wanted to say something, probably to the effect of 'at least they got him!' Maybe he'd finally learned some self-restraint. Chie gave her a funny look before class started, and she hadn't bothered to try and interpret it. Yukiko, for one, was focused on the notebook in front of her.

Nanako decided to follow Yukiko's example, and she powered through the day as best she could.

* * *

Naoto didn't offer her tea this time. He sat across from her and spread his hands across the table in a candid gesture. "I must congratulate the police for catching their suspect. However..."

"However, we know he only killed Mr. Morooka," Nanako finished for him. _As much as I want him to hang for that alone._

"Indeed. Nanako-san." Naoto paused, apparently steeling himself. "I have been taken off the investigation," he told her. "And I'm no longer welcome around the station."

Nanako leaned her head back, dispirited. "You mean they didn't like your report? It's bullshit politics getting in the way of the truth."

He nodded. "That's exactly it. Someone didn't like the conclusion I presented with my report. There is so much push to solve the serial murders that those heading the investigation are, it seems, more than willing to ignore the evidence and pin all the murders on their suspect."

"The confession helps," she remarked, "along with the fact that there hasn't been a murder following the true killer's method in months. But that's only because I've prevented it!" 

Naoto smiled bitterly. "The case is likely to be closed. That is, unless someone else dies."

"We can't let that happen!" Nanako declared. "Damn it! First I can't deal with Mr. Morooka's killer myself, and now the true killer gets off scot-free? That won't—" She cut herself off with a frown because Naoto had put on a humorless smile. 

"The true killer's little game won't end here," Naoto promised. "The public must be made aware of the police's folly. That folder before you. You might recognize its contents. Before submitting my report, I made a copy of all of my data. It's a race against time. I have a plan, but I will need your help."

"Tell me more," Nanako requested.

* * *

[7/23: Saturday]

Freedom. Nanako shared the feeling with all of her classmates when school let out that afternoon. No more exams, and summer break began next Wednesday. Just two more useless days of school to end the term.

But she couldn't relax like everyone else around her, nor feel any relief over the killer's capture. Her friends, too, knew it wasn't over.

"What are we going to do?" Yosuke asked her while she was in the classroom, packing her stuff to leave for the day. 

"You are going to keep watching the news and the Midnight Channel," she told him. "Got that?"

"Y-yeah," he replied. Again she sensed he wanted to say something more, but he just bit his lip and turned away to start sweeping the classroom with a broom. He had cleaning duty today.

"I think he's just upset that he can only see your ankles," Chie remarked playfully. She, too, had noticed his hesitation in speaking with her. 

Nanako looked down at her long skirt. She was starting to like wearing it. The way it flared out when she made a sudden turn was nice. She couldn't get used to all the stares she continued to receive for it, however. Contrary to what the entire school's population seemed to believe, the new wardrobe wasn't a bid for attention. Some of the teachers had been more disapproving than others about it; Mr. Yamada had tried to tease her, but Ms. Sofue had only raised an eyebrow. In all honesty, she didn't care what anyone thought about it—least of all Yosuke.

"That was a joke, Nanako," Chie said. "You're supposed to laugh."

"I'm not ready to laugh yet," Nanako told her. 

Chie seemed to be at a loss for words. "W-well, Nanako," she eventually said. "Don't forget that you can call any of us up, anytime. If you want to go out, or... Hey, do you wanna go training tomorrow? I didn't call you last Sunday because we were all studying."

"Actually, Chie, I'm busy tomorrow," Nanako replied. "I have a Plan to see through." A Plan with a capital P.

"Really? You're not gonna let me in on it, are you?"

"You should probably watch the news tonight, too," Nanako advised evasively. "We all need to stay on top of this case. Actually, could you tell Yukiko that, too? I have a date with Souji-kun, so I need to get going."

Chie blinked at her. "Wait. Speaking of Yukiko, she wanted to talk to you."

Nanako paused in putting her bag over her arm. "If it's about studying, it's a little too late. She could have called."

The other girl was shaking her head. "It's not. I told her to wait until after exams. It would be nice if you could find some time to see her. I think she's still around campus. She just wanted to ask Mr. Hosoi a question about the story we had to write about today."

Nanako checked the time on her phone. It was still early enough. "Sure, I'll go find her."

* * *

She'd met Yukiko in the hall by the faculty office, and now the two were sitting on a bench outside the school.

"It was so difficult to concentrate on exams," Yukiko said with a soft sigh. "When Ms. Kashiwagi proctored, I kept thinking of him."

Him. She didn't have to say it for Nanako to know she meant Morooka.

"You probably did fine," Nanako murmured. "You always do."

Yukiko ignored her token reassurance. "Nanako, I wanted to tell you that he was helping me. He'd given me some advice. Mostly that I shouldn't make any rash decisions, and about how the situation might look like from someone else's perspective."

Nanako's pensive look became a puzzled one. "So he told you not to leave Inaba?"

The innkeeper-in-training shook her head. "Not exactly. He actually had the same idea that you had—that I should go to college in the big city and see what life is like there before committing. I told him that my family doesn't see college in my future, and he gave me some ways to work on changing their minds. He suggested I find stories of other girls who went on to get hospitality degrees and how it helped them in their businesses, for example. He was going to help me look into colleges, but then..." Yukiko hesitated for a moment. "Then he was killed."

Nanako leaned her head back on the bench until it was touching the wall of the school building behind her. He wasn't supposed to die.

"I wanted to thank you for having me talk to him," Yukiko continued. "You were right. There was more to him than he showed the world. I'm not sure why he was the way he was, but..."

"Now we'll never know," Nanako replied simply. 

They sat together in a brooding silence for a while, both thinking about the teacher they no longer had.

* * *

Nanako had wondered how she was going to 'kidnap' Yuuta, but she needn't have bothered. The boy was present at the Seta residence when she arrived. Apparently Souji had taken care of that for her. Heh heh. He really was a blood relative, wasn't he?

Takeyoshi-kun was there, too. He was a husky boy with dark hair. By rights, Souji-kun should be his size, Nanako thought, from all the takeout he ate and his lack of exercise. But she'd noticed by now that Souji didn't eat everything set in front of him. He might also have a good metabolism.

Standing with Takeyoshi, though, was a woman who was apparently his mother. She seemed to be supervising the boys until Nanako arrived. As Nanako introduced herself, the woman's expression became stony, and her reply introduction was stiff. "I'm not sure about this..." the woman muttered at the end.

"About what?" Nanako asked, tilting her head. "We're just going swimming at the flood plain. I mean, I'm no lifeguard, but I doubt we'll have a problem. I'm a good swimmer and I know CPR."

The woman sucked her teeth. "I just don't know."

That's when Nanako realized the woman was staring at her long skirt... and judging her for it. "Listen, you!" Nanako exclaimed. "I'm a respected worker at the daycare. The kids love me. Right Yuu-kun?"

"Y-yeah," Yuuta said. "Everyone wants Boss to be their big sis!"

Takeyoshi looked up at his mom, who mouthed, 'Bad influence,' under her breath while shaking her head.

Nanako's DEATH glare hadn't seen some use in a while, and she was about to bring it out when the doorbell rang. Before she could get it, Souji was already heading there to open it. "Oh, hi," came a voice from the front door. "My, aren't you cute. Are you Souji-kun? You're in that picture I took at Tatsumi Textiles. My name is Saki... Is Nanako in?"

"Uh, umm, y-yeah..." was Souji's muffled reply.

"Come on in, Senpai!" Nanako called, and soon Saki joined the group crowding the Seta family living room.

"Oh, Saki-chan!" said Takeyoshi's mom. "Are you, perhaps, going with...?"

Saki nodded. "Yeah, Nanako invited me and I couldn't resist a chance to meet her little cousin." She patted Souji on the head, and Nanako stared, because the boy didn't back away even though he'd only just met Saki. In fact, he seemed to be smiling.

"That's good," the older woman said in obvious relief. "I know I can trust you with the boys. Listen, I'll be back around seven tonight. Are you going to feed him?"

Saki turned to Nanako with a questioning look.

"Just takeout," Nanako replied. "Since I can't cook much. Oh, dang, you just reminded me that I forgot to bake cookies yesterday!"

"Cookies...?" Takeyoshi's mom was frowning.

"D-dinosaur cookies, big sis?" Souji asked. "We had d-dinosaur cookies once," he explained to a curious Yuuta. "Takeyoshi-kun had one because I brought some with my lunch one day."

"It was a triceratops," Takeyoshi reported. 

Takeyoshi's mother was giving Nanako an appraising look. "Well, takeout is fine." She then turned to her son and gave him a kiss on the nose. "Be good, Ta-chan!"

After the woman left, Yuuta snickered. "She called you 'Ta-chan.'"

"S-so?" said Takeyoshi. "She's my mom, so..."

"I call Souji-kun 'Sou-chan' all the time," Nanako informed the boys. "A nickname's cute! Wanna be called 'Yuu-chan'? I'll do it."

Yuuta's face grew pink, perhaps in the shade that was his favorite color. "N-no thanks, Boss!"

Nanako then told the boys to use the bathroom one last time—not that she cared if any of them piddled in the river. While they were doing that, she finished packing her bag with towels and made sure she remembered to put the sunscreen in it.

"So, our party is three boys," Saki observed. "I can handle three boys."

"Psshh," said Nanako. "You could handle a dozen."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Saki replied, but she nudged Nanako playfully on the shoulder while she said it.

* * *

Nanako led them to the river at the flood plain, right by the picnic area. Saki slowed, expecting her to stop there, but she continued along the river towards the northern part of the town, and the older girl followed her, mild confusion on her face.

"So, Ta-kun, tell me about yourself," Nanako requested.

Takeyoshi lifted his head and recited, "I'm 6 years, 7 months, 3 days, and, umm," – he looked down at his wristwatch – "18 hours and 46 minutes old."

"That's oddly specific," she remarked with a bemused shake of her head, and he seemed to glow with pride.

"Takeyoshi-kun w-wants to be an astronaut," Souji contributed. "And work on the s-space station."

"I wanna be a space pirate," Yuuta interjected, jogging up to them. He'd fallen behind because his shoe had gotten untied. Saki had helped him with it. "And steal all the treasure!"

"What, like that episode of Featherman?" Nanako asked. "Then you'd better be a good pirate or the Rangers will get you!"

"Uh, umm..." Yuuta looked downcast all of a sudden. "Y-yeah."

"Something wrong, Yuu-kun?"

"D-didn't see that episode," he muttered.

"Yuuta-kun hasn't seen any episode," Souji threw in helpfully. 

Yuuta glared at the other boy. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone! You promised!"

Souji looked taken aback and more than a little hurt at his tone. "B-but it's big sis...!"

"Hey, hey," Nanako said. "It's okay if you don't like Featherman. I'm not a huge fan myself. Loveline is my one true love." Or rather, it used to be, she added in her mind.

"But I do like Featherman," Yuuta protested. "It's just..." He looked down with a scowl.

Nanako stopped walking to stand by him. 

"She watches TV during it," he finally confided, "so... I can't watch it." 

"She? Oh, you mean your stepmom." Nanako nibbled her lower lip while she considered this problem.

"Yuuta-kun," Saki mused. "That's right. Your stepmother is Minami-san."

Nanako looked at her friend. "Oh, do you know her? I feel like... I'm gonna have to get involved at some point. I don't know anything about her except Yuu-kun doesn't seem to like her."

"It's not that I don't like her," Yuuta mumbled. "But..."

"She's not his real mom," Takeyoshi pitched in. 

"That doesn't matter at all, honey," Nanako said, looking at both of the boys critically. "Real or not, a crappy mom is gonna be crappy. And a good mom is going to be good, full of love and support, regardless. Most moms are somewhere in between. Sometimes they just need a bit of guidance to push them in the right direction. I'll have to find out where your mom stands, Yuu-kun." 

"She's a bored housewife," Saki informed her. "At least, that's what I hear. Uh, but we probably shouldn't gossip about her."

"I don't care," said Yuuta. "All she does is watch TV. I don't talk to her, and she doesn't talk to me. I hate being at home." 

"What we have is a breakdown of communication," Nanako mused. "You should try talking to her, Yuu-kun."

"No way," he said.

"Just simple things," she went on, "like about what you learned in school today, or something funny one of your friends said. I can't imagine living in a house where no one talks to each other."

Yuuta was looking at the ground. He kicked away a stone by his foot.

"It's worth a try, Yuu-chan!" she said. She took his hand and began to tug him along. "Come on, let's go swimming."

Of course, Yuuta couldn't be the only one holding her hand, so she grabbed Souji with her other hand. Takeyoshi was walking along just a little bit ahead and completely oblivious to the hand Souji held out to him. It was both sad and cute. She squeezed Souji's hand and sent him a smile when he gave up trying to get his friend's attention.

They continued on their way like that, the three holding hands only separating when a tree or boulder got in their path. At some point, Saki interrupted. "Nanako, if we keep going this way, we'll end up in the woods."

"I know," Nanako answered. "When I told Takeyoshi-kun's mom that we were going to the flood plain, I lied. But we are swimming in the river."

Nanako led them farther along the river. Soon the riverside sported a thick growth of trees, vines, and other vegetation. The boys grew quiet, perhaps in respect of their peaceful surroundings, until Yuuta pointed out a woodpecker high up in a tree. 

"It's _Picus awokera,_ " Takeyoshi said. "You can tell because it has a green back."

"What is that, the species name? How do you know that?" Nanako asked.

"T-Takeyoshi-kun is r-really smart," Souji stammered. "He reads all these books with big words, and..."

"Actually, I saw it on a TV show about birds in Japan," Takeyoshi admitted. 

"Cute," Nanako said. She set her bag down. "Let's stop here. This should be far enough away from prying eyes."

"Ah, so that's why we're so far away from civilization." Saki nodded. "Privacy."

"Heh, heh," said Nanako. "That's right. Okay, boys, go ahead and change into your trunks so we can get to swimming!"

"But big sis, I don't have any trunks," Souji protested.

"I know," Nanako replied. "And that's why you're going to have to use your birthday suit."

Saki laughed out loud. "Didn't have time to go shopping for him, eh?"

"I sort of forgot, what with exams and everything," Nanako said, "and it's really not that important. I bathe with him all the time, so. Come on, Sou-chan." She moved to the boy and helped him unbutton his dress shirt. "You know, Senpai, he doesn't have any play clothes. He's always dressed nicely like this. It drives me nuts."

"Big sis...?" Souji murmured. "I'm s-sorry..."

"Huh? Don't be, Sou-chan! I love you just the way you are!" Nanako pulled him into a hug, and Saki aww'd at the sight. "Group hug! Yuu-kun, Ta-kun, you too!"

"Yay!" said Yuuta, and he eagerly joined the hug.

"You're really good with kids," Saki observed.

"Me?" said Nanako. "Nah, it's not about good or bad. You just got to love them, and love being with them."

"I think you have to love life in general," Saki murmured.

Nanako looked up at her because her tone sounded pensive, but Saki was presently pointing her camera phone at them. It was apparently group photo time as well! At least Souji wasn't in his birthday suit quite yet. He still had his shorts on.

After that, Nanako pulled the sunscreen out of her bag. Yuuta was first, since he'd changed into his trunks the fastest. Then she turned to Takeyoshi, but although he'd put his trunks on, he was still wearing his shirt. She set a hand on her hip and told him to take it off or he'd get it all wet.

"I don't want to take my shirt off," he muttered. "People always tickle me, or poke me..."

Oh, so he was self-conscious about being a little chubby, huh? "I promise I won't," Nanako said. "But it might tickle when I put the sunscreen on you!"

The boy's face flushed, but he finally relented and pulled the shirt off with a little help from Saki.

With the boys sunscreened up, she gave them the okay to go in the water. She warned them not to go too far and watched them swim a bit to gauge their ability in the water. Yuuta didn't seem to be as adept at swimming as the others.

"Are you going to get changed now?" Saki asked. "I can watch the boys. You know... I told Souji-kun earlier that I came along today to meet him, but I really just wanted to see how you looked in that bikini."

"What bikini?" Nanako asked.

Saki blinked. "The one I helped you pick out for the camping trip. It was bright yellow and orange."

"That was a joke," Nanako explained. "Because I didn't bring it with."

"Oh, so you're not going swimming."

Nanako laughed, and patted her shoulder. "No, we're both going swimming!"

"But I didn't bring a swimsuit either," Saki said.

"No, you didn't."

Saki gaped at her for a moment, and then closed her eyes and shook her head. "No wonder you wanted to go so far up the river. You wanted to skinny dip! Is that why you invited me?"

"Yeah," Nanako admitted. "I think you're the only friend I have who'd go along with it. Well, I'm sure the boys would—Kanji-kun and Yosuke—but that's different." Plus I already had my fun with them at the bathhouse, she added in her mind, but Saki was better off not knowing that.

"Fine," Saki said, "but you're stripping first."

Nanako laughed, and soon the two girls were in the water and swimming with the boys. The river wasn't all that deep; she could reach the bottom with her head still out of the water. She almost suggested the boys could try and swim to the bottom, but the way Yuuta kept dog-paddling just to stay above the water made her decide against it. 

Instead, she had them play with Souji's bath toy, the plastic rainbow-colored fish, and let it 'swim' down the river to be caught by one of the other boys. She'd tied a long string around it earlier like a leash so that it would be harder for them to lose. 

When they tired of that, they had some fun splashing water up at the plants on the shore and watching the dirt and tree bark get darker from all the moisture.

Souji yelped at some point, and then giggled. "A f-fish touched me," he explained.

While the boys were still occupied by their splashing contest, Nanako noticed the somewhat pensive expression on Saki's face. She was watching the boys play. Maybe it reminded her of her brother. "Did you and Naoki-kun skinny dip before?" she asked.

"Yeah," Saki said, looking back at her with a small smile. "It's actually not that uncommon out here, especially when we were in grade school."

Nanako wondered briefly if her dad had ever gone skinny dipping with that Takeshi guy, and then decided that he had to have.

"It's freeing, isn't it? It's—" Nanako paused because a pair of swim trunks were floating by. "Very freeing, I suppose. Yuu-kun! You lost something."

"S-sorry, Boss!" he panted when she handed his trunks back to him. His flailing in the water had probably loosened them. He headed back to the shore to put them back on.

"I wonder," said Saki, "what would happen if a hiker came upon us."

"A dead body would happen, is what," Nanako declared instantly.

Saki laughed, but the laugh trailed off awkwardly and her expression became pensive again. 

I wish I'd found the killer, Nanako thought for the nth time. 

Suddenly, a big splash of water came at Nanako's face. "H-hey!" she spluttered, guarding her face with her hands. "Who did that?"

"Y-you splashed big sis..." she heard Souji say. He sounded awed. "T-Takeyoshi-kun!"

"It was an accident!" Takeyoshi claimed.

"He is p-pretty strong," Souji conceded.

"Strong nothing," said Yuuta. "He did it on purpose. I saw him!"

"Oh, so we have a liar on our hands?" Nanako said. She swam towards the boy with exaggerated slowness. "Bad boys get punished. Do you know how?"

"Uh, umm." Takeyoshi seemed unsure of himself now. "I'm sorry..."

"That's right," Nanako said. "They get," – she held her hands out of the water and curled the fingers – "tickled!"

"Please, no!" the boy wailed when she made a grab for him.

She chased the boy through the water for a bit, the others laughing and getting splashed in their wake. She stopped when it seemed like Takeyoshi needed a rest to catch his breath. Silly boy. Hopefully he'd learned his lesson.

Some time later, Yuuta got out of the water because he was tired. The haphazard way he swam tuckered him out faster than the others, but it was probably a good time to call it a day. Nanako got out, too, and found the towels for everyone. She and Saki made sure the boys dried themselves off well before putting their clothes back on.

Once everyone was clothed and ready to go, they headed back to the Seta residence. Nanako made the boys hold hands so that she could keep a better eye on them on the way. 

Saki came up to her and matched her pace. "You know... I think this was good for you, Nanako."

Nanako looked at her sidelong, and took a long moment to answer. "Honestly, Saki-senpai... this has been the most normal I've felt since last week."

Saki nodded. "The pain doesn't go away. But you can ignore it for a time."

* * *

The long, eventful day was coming to a close. Takeyoshi's mother had picked her boy up, and now Saki was seated on the couch in the Seta family living room. Souji and Yuuta were sprawled out on the floor on either side of the tea table, napping. Nanako handed Saki the melon-flavored drink she'd fetched from the fridge and joined her on the couch.

"So, uh," Saki said quietly. "What are we gonna do about Yuuta-kun?"

"I should wake him and get him to call home, but..."

"I know. They look so peaceful sleeping, don't they?"

Nanako was tempted to cuddle up next to Souji on the floor, that was for sure.

"Worst case scenario, I get hauled in for kidnapping," Nanako said cheerfully. "I never actually asked Souji-kun how he brought Yuuta-kun along. I don't think they're in the same class at school. Heck, I don't even know if they're the same grade."

Saki rubbed her chin. "Well, the police already know both of us pretty well. We can probably chalk it up as a misunderstanding. If that happens."

"Then we could be cellmates," Nanako suggested. "Thus starts my prison adventure." 

With a sigh, she pushed against Yuuta's shoulder and woke him up. He blinked up at her groggily and she handed him her cell phone and told him to call home. He wrinkled his nose. "Can you... talk to her for me?" he pleaded.

"You need to start talking to her," Nanako told him, not unkindly. 

He put on a brave face and dialed home. But when the other end picked up, he clammed up and wouldn't say a word.

"Hello? Hello?" a tinny voice came from the phone. "Yuu-kun? Is that you?"

Still Yuuta wouldn't answer. Nanako sighed and gently took the phone from him. "Minami-san? Hi." She introduced herself and explained where Yuuta was. "I can drop him off after the news tonight, or you can pick him up, or—"

"Can I just stay here?" Yuuta asked with barely-disguised eagerness.

Apparently Minami heard that. "Oh, he wants to stay the night? I don't mind..."

Nanako's mouth made a flat line. She didn't want to have to drop the boy off in the morning. She was going to be busy tomorrow. But the pleading look on Yuuta's face was hard to resist. And she knew Souji would be really happy to have a friend stay overnight. At the same time, Nanako knew she should actually ask Aunt Seta's permission first... but Aunt Seta had proved to be pretty cool lately, so she assumed it'd be okay. 

"Yeah, okay. Here, I'll give you the house number so you can call when you're coming to pick him up tomorrow." 

With that settled, Nanako asked Saki to stay with Yuuta while she found some more blankets for him to bunk in Souji's room for the night. She also took the opportunity to close the door to her room so that Yuuta wouldn't see her stuffed animals. 

When she came back downstairs, Yuuta had fallen back to sleep. This time he was lying up against the couch, so Nanako had to step over him and place her feet in an awkward position so as not to awaken him.

Then she set her hand on Saki's arm. "Think you could stay over, too, Senpai?"

"I don't know if I trust sleeping in the same room as you," Saki answered with a teasing grin.

"Heh heh," said Nanako. "If you can't stay the night, you need to at least stay for this." She leaned forward and grabbed the remote from the table and turned it on to the local news channel. She muted it for now so as not to wake the kids.

"Some show you wanna watch?" Saki asked. She seemed to be racking her mind for a show that could be on soon that would fit the bill.

"Just a few more minutes," Nanako murmured. "And you'll have all the answers." Or more questions, possibly.

When the segment came on, she unmuted the TV and squeezed Saki's arm lightly to get her attention.

"Good evening, and welcome to Niteline's special Nitewatch Report," the well-dressed woman on the TV announced. "A suspect in the murders in Inaba was safely arrested recently. But what few people know is that the mastermind who brought him to justice was a high school detective. Tonight's report will focus on this Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane, whose handsome looks are sweeping the nation. Thanks for being on the show."

Out of the corner of her eyes (for they were fairly glued to the screen), Nanako saw Saki take in her breath in surprise. 

Naoto, wearing his aqua shirt and yellow tie ensemble, was sitting rather comfortably in the studio's big white interviewee armchair. He had one leg crossed over the other and his hands folded in his lap. "No, no, the pleasure is all mine," he said. "But I must inform you that I am here under false pretenses."

The interviewer paused for a moment, then went on, "First, congratulations to you and the police for your recent arrest of the culprit."

Naoto shook his head. "The public has been criminally misinformed. The suspect that has been apprehended was merely a copycat killer. He had nothing to do with the serial murders, and I have substantial proof to back this claim."

The interviewer frowned. "Shirogane-san, the police have released an official report that states the culprit was involved in all three murders. Were you not part of that process?"

"I was left out of that process," Naoto explained, "because I brought attention to aspects of the case that none wished to consider. When one looks at the facts, one cannot help but see the inconsistencies between the latest victim, Kinshiro Morooka's, death and the previous two killings. The cause of death, for instance, remains ultimately unknown for the first two victims, whereas Mr. Morooka's was blunt trauma to the occipital cranium. If the current suspect was the serial killer, why, then did his methods not match up?" 

"But he confessed to the crimes!" the interviewer protested.

Naoto nodded determinedly. "A copycat killer would do that, either to cover up for the true killer, or perhaps to obtain the fame the true killer has achieved. The why of his motives is a matter for a criminal psychologist. But I can say with full confidence that the police are unwise to close the case as it stands now. It's both premature and foolhardy—the true killer is still at large." 

At that proclamation, the interviewer gaped at him, her face pale. She began to shuffle through her cue cards as whispering from the off-screen studio audience grew in intensity. "That is, err, a v-very unexpected announcement. We have been led to believe that it's all over, and you're saying otherwise."

"The police welcome the public's gullibility in believing such a thing, for it makes them look good to have such a high-interest case put to rest. They want to reassure the public that they are on top of the situation when they clearly aren't." Naoto produced a file folder and handed it to the befuddled interviewer. "Due to my dissent, I've been taken off the case. However, they never made me sign a non-disclosure agreement. You will find the facts laid bare before you. Ah, I do not expect you to pause the show to peruse them. I'll summarize them for your audience."

Naoto stood up and proceeded to speak directly to the camera. While he was setting forth his arguments, the noise from the studio audience grew ever louder, and the interviewer, now in the background of the scene, stared down in surprise at the contents of the file. After only around half a minute of this, the camera was shaken, as if someone had pushed it. "Cut, cut!" shouted a man off-screen, and the camera turned and tried to focus on him, but Naoto continued his exposition, heedless.

The last image shown was the boy detective's grim but satisfied smile before the show cut to a commercial break.

Saki had taken to her feet halfway through the program. She blinked a few times. "Is he right?" she whispered.

"Yes," Nanako replied simply.

Saki sank onto the couch with a long sigh. Then she put her hand on Nanako's arm. "I think I'll take you up on that offer to stay the night."

Nanako drew the girl into a comforting hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think we'll have a social link with Eri Minami (Aunt Seta is our Temperance, after all), but we'll probably do something about her eventually for completion's sake.
> 
> Next Chapter: To Catch a Criminal
> 
> The Plan comes to fruition.


	31. To Catch a Criminal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako and Naoto see their plan through to the bitter end.

[7/24: Sunday]

"Celebrity wasn't my intention." Naoto's voice was a murmur on the phone.

"Yeah..." 

Nanako had planned to meet with the detective bright and early at his apartment to begin the next scheme of their plan, but neither of them had expected the huge crowd to assemble around the place. Amateur film crews, journalists, and curious onlookers all blocked the path, even in spite of the morning rain. Everyone wanted to hear more from the Detective Prince after last night's interview on Niteline. Nanako had resorted to calling him on the phone instead of wading through the crowd.

"I'm afraid I might be trapped in my apartment for the moment," Naoto concluded. "I'm currently reluctant to make any attempt to address the crowd."

"I... I don't blame you," Nanako answered. As she watched, another news van arrived on scene, unloading several more people with cameras and microphones. One reporter set up an overlarge umbrella for his crew in case the rain returned. Some of the cameras were protected by plastic bags wrapped over them.

"I've already disabled my doorbell." Naoto sighed. "But I think the knocking and shouting is worse. I can't concentrate with all this disturbance."

"Do they even know you're home?" 

"Unfortunately, yes. I made the mistake of answering the first visitor's call this morning, and although I shut the door in the miscreant's face, he must have informed those that came after that I was, indeed, in. But I'm afraid that even if I did manage to escape, the crowd would simply follow me. We'll make little progress today, Nanako-san."

Nanako scowled into the phone. She would drag everyone away one-by-one if she had to.

But maybe she wouldn't have to. As she watched, a few policemen approached the scene. They carried traffic-directing wands and began to try to push people away from the apartment. An officer tried to appeal to the crowd to leave the area because they were disrupting the lives of other residents in the area. It didn't work half as well at deterring the crowd as the barricades they began to set up.

"Hold on, Shirogane-san!" she called into the phone. "Maybe the police aren't so bad. I think they're bringing you backup."

"An interesting development." In the background from Naoto's apartment was a knocking sound. "It appears they wish to speak with me. I can't imagine why."

Nanako snickered at his dry tone and then let him off the phone to deal with these new guests. She was contemplating her next move when she realized that Naoto was not allowing said guests into his apartment. Instead, he was addressing them in front of his door. She made a beeline for the barricade. This was something she couldn't miss.

In fact, it was something other people shouldn't miss either. She rounded up several of the stragglers remaining from the broken-up crowd and urged them to follow her. Soon the barricade was surrounded on the one side by a group of curious onlookers, all straining to hear the conversation going on in front of the complex.

"The responsibility for failing to have me sign a non-disclosure agreement ultimately falls to you," Naoto was saying. "By breaking contract, you waived all rights to privacy concerning the discoveries I have brought to light. Your incompetence, Superintendent, and the incompetence of your superiors, led to this situation." Naoto paused. He glanced pointedly at the audience behind the barricade. "The public deserves to be made aware."

The superintendent's teeth ground loud enough to be heard even from a distance behind the barricade. "Be that as it may... Despite the childishness of your decision to go to the _news,_ " – the man spat the word – "we are willing to reinstate the contract and bring you back on the case, Shirogane-kun."

"I would prefer to draw up a new contract. As a matter of fact, I've taken the liberty to write it myself. Here." Naoto took out a folded paper from his pants pocket and handed it to the man. "I understand you'll need some time to peruse it. I suggest you take it to your superiors before making a decision."

"...You'll hear from us."

"You know where I live."

The superintendent put the contract away in his coat with such reluctance that he crumpled the paper. Then he motioned to the other officers who had been standing with him, and they followed him past the barricade and out of the area. One policeman was left behind to tend the barricade. He told the crowd to move along, and eventually most of it dispersed. Nanako remained behind, hoping he'd soon go away, but it seemed like his job today was to play guard.

Fortunately, Naoto had seen her in the crowd. He stepped forward now to get the officer's attention and told him to let Nanako through. "She looks like trouble, s-sir," the man said, dubious.

Naoto's amused smile matched Nanako's own. "Quite."

"You don't know the half of it," Nanako told the officer as he let her through. She thanked him on the other side, which surprised him and made her smile.

A short time later saw Naoto and Nanako having tea in the detective's apartment. "As amusing as that diversion was," Naoto said, "we are behind schedule."

"Did you add that compensation clause to the contract like I told you?" Nanako asked.

The detective assured her that he had. "It's strange, isn't it, how working for free makes others think your time isn't valuable. They are in for a rude awakening."

"And the rudest is yet to come," Nanako agreed. She waved her hand at the tea table. On it was an array of unidentifiable electronic parts. "I see you've been busy this morning. Is that the camera?"

Naoto nodded and picked up a part that looked like a metal bracelet and turned it around in his hands. "After some further adjustments, I will be mounting it to the door. This apartment only has one entrance. Since I don't have a delivery door, the culprit's tactics might very well change. The windows are tightly locked, and should someone try to enter that way, it would likely draw attention to the other residents."

"You should set an alarm on the windows anyway," Nanako advised, but Naoto told her that he already had. "Did you get a motion sensor for the door?"

"I'll be installing it soon. By the way, Nanako-san, with all that excitement, I neglected to tell you something that I understand you've been wanting to hear." 

The detective handed her a photograph across the table. She peered down at it. It was a dark-eyed boy's middle school yearbook picture. In it, he was wearing a black suit and a teal tie. The caption read, 'Mitsuo Kubo.'

"This..." she began.

"That is the culprit the police have apprehended for Mr. Morooka's murder. You were interested in knowing his name. I discovered it with some help from a computer database."

"I think I called that guy a 'cumbag' once," Nanako muttered. "I recognize that beauty mark under his left eye." She'd seen him around town a few times, too, wasting time in the shopping district like many teenagers did after school. He was always wearing Internet meme shirts.

She pocketed the picture, not that it mattered anymore. He was already apprehended, but... who knew? Maybe she'd get her chance yet. She thanked Naoto, regardless, and they returned to the topic of their plan. 

"We should set up some sort of alert system," she said. "I still have school the next two days, so that's going to take a chunk of my time, though we might have early release on Tuesday, what with it being the last day and all. Probably not."

"Not to worry," Naoto replied. "I've obtained a mini GPS tracker that I will keep on my person. We'll set your phone and my laptop computer to receive alerts. It can be set to alert you immediately when I'm outside of my normal range."

Nanako brought out her phone. The detective noticed the cracked screen and offered to replace it for her. "It still works," she said. "Don't worry about it. Let's set this thing up!"

* * *

Some hours later, Nanako left Naoto's apartment. She felt an overabundance of excitement. They'd set up the camera, the GPS unit, the motion devices... And she'd warned Naoto at length what to expect if the worst happened. Now they just had to wait for the culprit to act. It would be a nervous, expectant wait, that was for sure. 

Nanako headed to the Konishi Liquor store. She wanted to see Saki and apologize once again for pawning the kids onto her this morning, though Saki had taken on the task without complaint. She also wanted to hear how the encounter with Yuuta's mom went.

She passed by the Moel gas station and Izaya was there, standing under the awning in his work uniform. He nodded at her with a wicked-looking smile, and she waved back at him but continued on her way. It was still really cloudy out, and as she splashed through a large puddle, she thought that he probably wasn't going to get much business today.

The Velvet Room door shimmered by the bookstore. She paused by it. Something that had been bothering her came to her then. Marie hadn't been there the last time she'd been inside. She'd been too enraged at the time to care, but she'd noticed the rude girl's absence. She considered whether she cared enough now to inquire within, and then sighed and decided she probably should. She took the key out of her pocket and opened the door.

False alarm, apparently. Marie was there, sitting to Igor's right. The girl was staring down at the floor and didn't look up when Nanako entered. The change from her usual cheeky attitude was troubling somehow. Nanako decided to try and reassure her. "I know I've been ignoring you, Marie, but I don't have anything against you. Wanna hang out?" 

"Can't," the girl muttered without looking up.

"Why not?" Nanako frowned. She knew the girl was probably a social link.

Without looking up, Marie waved a hand at the other residents. "I can't leave when my 'existence is wavering,' or something. I don't get it either."

Nanako turned her gaze on Igor, but Margaret was the one who spoke up. "It is not always safe for Marie to leave this place. When she is free, you might see her in your world, standing outside our door."

Now Marie's eyes snapped up. "Outside? You mean I can go outside sometimes? Why didn't you tell me this before!?"

"Only when your existence isn't wavering," Margaret said with a tired sigh.

"What'll happen if she goes outside now?" Nanako asked. 

"End of the world, maybe," said Marie. When Nanako raised an eyebrow, she added, "Kidding. Wouldn't that be a neat trick? Hey, that... that gives me an idea." She took out a small spiral notebook and began to write on it. After a moment she paused, looking up thoughtfully and tapping her chin with her pen. "What rhymes with apocalypse?"

"Whips," said Nanako. 

"Hmm! Or chips."

"Or unzips."

"Don't let Marie detain you," Margaret interrupted, rubbing her temple in the universal gesture of tiredness. "Please."

"Time doesn't pass in here, right?" Nanako replied. "I'm not being detained." Entertained, maybe, but not detained. 

"Poetry doesn't have to rhyme," Marie commented. "It's just more fun if it does. But it's also more restrictive, and sometimes your pathos needs the freedom of not having a rhyme."

"Have you tried haiku before? That's pretty fun."

Marie gave her a puzzled look. "What the heck is 'high coo'?"

"Man, how sheltered are you? Haiku is—"

Margaret ahem'd so loudly that Nanako instinctively stopped to look at her. "Don't. Let us. Detain you," the woman repeated, enunciating each word slowly.

Without thinking about it, Nanako rubbed her jaw where Margaret had punched her so long ago. "I'll bring in some samples next time," she promised Marie. "I'd better get going."

The clouds seemed to be getting darker in the sky. According to the weather report, it wasn't supposed to rain past noon today, but obviously the report was inaccurate for once. 

She'd better head for shelter soon. The downpours in Inaba could get so strong that an umbrella wouldn't help all that much. She set a rapid pace for the liquor store. 

A bell connected to the door rang when she entered. Saki's father, sitting behind the counter, took in her appearance and immediately told her to get out. "We don't sell to minors."

"I'm not here for booze, mister," she responded. "I just wanted to see if Saki-senpai is in."

The man's lip curled like he was biting back a comment. He shuffled to the back door, not taking his eyes from her for even a second. He called for Saki. "Your 'friend' is here to see you."

Nanako heard the judgmental way he'd said that and opened her mouth to say something, but then Saki appeared in the doorway wearing a rather ordinary brown dress. The smile that appeared on Saki's face upon seeing her made her set the retort aside. "Hey, Nanako. What are you doing here?"

The downpour of rain outside answered the question for her.

"Let's go upstairs," Saki invited. "I've seen your room. Now you can see mine."

Nanako followed her friend up, aware of the disapproving eye upon her. When Saki gestured for her to enter a room, Nanako paused before the door and whispered, "Your dad, he's... he's not going to yell at you about me later, is he? He didn't look happy to see me."

Saki shook her head. "You're just going to be another tiny bullet point on his long list of grievances about me. Don't sweat it."

"Senpai..."

"Do you not want to see my room?" Saki said. "Go in already!"

Saki's room reminded her of her own back in Tokyo, a typical girl's room with a vanity desk and a Western-style bed with a pink and white bed set that matched the curtains. The vanity mirror was so covered with old stickers and pictures that the mirror itself was almost invisible. The desk's surface was littered with lipstick and other makeup accessories and an array of hair clips. The standing closet in the corner was closed to prying eyes at the moment—too bad, she was curious about her senpai's fashion. And unlike Nanako's room, the bookshelf held actual books, not any manga. No, wait, there were a couple volumes of manga, but the rest was mostly school-related stuff and study guides. Saki was a senior, after all. 

"Sorry, I only have one chair. I don't get many visitors. Go ahead and take it," Saki told her, indicating the wooden desk chair.

"I can sit on the bed." Without waiting for Saki's reply, Nanako moved past her friend and did exactly as she said.

"You would, wouldn't you." Saki sounded amused. "I was going to sit there."

"We can both sit here." Nanako patted the spot next to her, and Saki joined her. Before Nanako knew it, the older girl was running fingers through her hair. "S-Senpai!"

"You need to take better care of your hair," Saki murmured. "Shoving it in a ponytail as you do, it's disrespectful."

Nanako removed the scarf pinning her hair back and shook out her hair. Saki reached for her desk, took a hairbrush from it, and began to brush through Nanako's hair. "I have been letting it down—you saw it yesterday. But it was getting in my way today, so I had to pin it back." Wearing long hair around power tools was not a risk she'd take for the sake of fashion.

"Hmm. We should spend a day together," Saki said, "and I'll give you a makeover. Not today, I don't have everything I'd need."

"That sounds nice," Nanako murmured. She closed her eyes. Saki's strokes with the hairbrush were soft. It was very pleasant. "You know, Saki-senpai, I really feel like I can let my hair down around you. Figuratively speaking. And literally, I guess. I was surprised you were willing to spend a whole Saturday with me and the kids, but I think I shouldn't have been."

Saki slowed in the brushing. "Well... my boyfriend broke up with me, so it's not like I had anything else to do."

"Do you want me to punch him?"

"Nah," said Saki. "It was more of a mutual thing. I don't think he would've been much good for me in the long run. He was a bit... I dunno. We didn't have much in common and he was always trying to get discounts for liquor."

"What, and not at Junes?" 

"There too, actually."

"You have more in common with Yosuke than you think," Nanako observed. She leaned her head back. Saki was now using her long nails in her hair instead of the brush and she loved it.

"Hana-chan." Saki sighed. "He's not boyfriend material. He's your typical high school virgin at this point in his life. Tries too hard, you know? Before Naoki died, he was always being super chivalrous to me just because I was nice to him."

"I haven't talked to him in a while," Nanako admitted, trying hard to suppress a sing-song 'not a virgin~.' "I don't think he approves of my new getup."

"Screw him," Saki said with feeling. "Not literally. If he can't see that you needed this, he isn't worth his discount."

They lapsed into an agreeable silence for a moment. "I could be your boyfriend," Nanako suggested quietly.

Saki paused in handling her hair for several seconds. "I feel like I must state the obvious. You aren't a boy."

"Tell me what a boy can do that I can't," Nanako declared.

"Well, there's—"

"I can do that."

Saki hesitated. "But then there's—"

"I can do that, too."

The older girl began to giggle. "You are something else. When Yuuta-kun called you 'Boss' yesterday I nearly laughed out loud." 

"How did it go with his mom, by the way?"

"She came by about an hour after Featherman," Saki replied. "The boy was so happy to watch that show with Souji-kun, you really should've been there. Souji-kun even sung the theme song until he remembered he was being watched."

Nanako laughed. "Damn, I can't believe I missed—uhh." She paused. Saki's hand had suddenly crept into hers. 

Saki wasn't quite looking at her. "You know, I feel like I'm almost normal around you, too. I think we understand each other pretty well."

"Damn right," said Nanako, keeping her hand exactly where it was. Saki's skin felt soft to the touch; she probably used hand lotion on a regular basis.

"I was thinking that maybe you can stay the night here," Saki suggested, trying to sound casual. "Sure, my dad might get pissed, but what can he do, short of kicking us both out?"

"If we do get kicked out, we'll just go back to my aunt's place anyway. I think we can't lose."

"Then it's settled," Saki declared.

* * *

[7/25: Monday]

Nanako swung by the Seta residence the next morning before school, partially to change but mostly to check in on her cousin. She found him in the kitchen cooking eggs over easy for himself, which made her feel all the more guilty for neglecting him. Whether he did it often or not, she was uncomfortable with him using the stove without supervision.

"Do you need... breakfast?" he asked upon seeing her.

She ignored the question, instead walking right over to him and hugging him. She didn't have to bend down since he was on his step stool, which allowed her to sneak a kiss into his hair, too. "I'm sorry I left you alone last night like that."

"M-Mama was home," he told her. "And... you called, so... that made it better."

She tickled him just a little and then asked him to cook up another slice of toast for her while she changed into fresh clothes. After breakfast she made sure he had his Loveline umbrella since it was cloudy out. It reminded her to ask what happened in the episodes of Loveline and Featherman that she'd missed. She gathered that Loveline had been a filler episode, and that Featherman was essentially a PSA about recycling.

"And then Condor said, 'I'll do it!' and... and then..." 

Souji was looking up right at her while he spoke. Nanako stopped him suddenly. "Watch out, Sou-chan! There's a big puddle up ahead. You don't want to go to school with wet shoes, do you?"

He contemplated the puddle that stretched across the road. It didn't seem like there was an easy way around it. 

She put her arms around his middle and picked him up. "B-big sis!" he protested. She skipped her way through the puddle with long strides, or as long as her short legs could manage, and then set him down on the other side, panting a little from the effort. He weighed more than he looked.

"Big sis..." he muttered in a somewhat scolding tone. "N-now your shoes are all wet... and y-your skirt too..."

She smiled at him and tousled his hair, and then smoothed it out again. It was starting to get long; he'd need it cut soon. Maybe she could cut it for him. Maybe she could enlist Saki's help with it and they'd do it together. They could both get a makeover!

"Summer break is soon," Souji observed. "Is that why you're so happy?"

"Huh?" She paused. "Yeah, some of the reason! I wonder if we can get your mom to go on a trip with us. Oh, and you know, Chie's birthday is this Saturday. We'll do something for her, how about it?"

He blinked at her, and then broke into a smile. "Yeah!"

"What do you think we should do? Bake a cake, or some cookies?"

"W-we should have a r-race," the boy answered. "And, and invite everyone. K-Kanji-san, and Y-Yu... Yukiko-san, and partner!"

"Perfect, honey," she told him. "All right, get along to school now." She turned him around and walked him the rest of the way to school, her shoes making a humorous squelching noise with every step. They probably wouldn't dry in her shoe locker, but she wasn't the only one. On rainy days, the school entrance hall often smelled like a swamp, and today was no exception. She was grateful, for once, to change into her indoor shoes.

In the classroom, she found Yosuke pacing around by her desk. He uncrossed his arms in his excitement at seeing her. "There you are! Did you watch the Midnight Channel last night?" 

Since he was blocking the aisle, she couldn't get to her seat, so she sat on the top of her desk instead. She glanced at Chie, who was already sitting at her desk, but the girl was looking at something her phone. "No, actually. Don't tell me Ms. Kashiwagi died..."

"Well, maybe you should have." Yosuke sounded annoyed. "Because your boyfriend was on it."

"Boyfriend!?" Chie exclaimed, looking up.

"That guy with the hat," Yosuke explained. "I don't think he's really her boyfriend—why are you smiling like that, Nanako? It's creeping me out!" 

"Heh heh," said Nanako. 

"The news keeps going on and on about him," the boy continued. "Naoto Shirogane, the so-called 'Detective Prince.' Apparently he's at odds with the police."

"Yeah, I saw that segment on the news on Saturday, too," Chie said. "I didn't know they filmed live. The way the camera was shoved around like that, it felt like a trash TV show. It was pretty crazy!"

Yosuke took out his phone and showed the picture he'd taken of the silhouette on the Midnight Channel to both girls. From the cap alone, there was no doubt that it was Naoto.

"What are we gonna do about it, Nanako?" Yosuke asked. "You've met him before. Kanji, too, but I think you know him more. Should we set up times to watch him? Or we can warn him. He went public with the fact that there's a copycat killer, so he might not even be surprised that he's a target for the real killer."

"Don't worry about him," Nanako answered.

"Don't worry? But he's on his way to being kidnapped like Yukiko," Chie protested. "We know who the victim is for sure, so we can catch the jerk in the act!"

"And send him straight to hell," Nanako added aloud, though she hadn't meant to. "Don't worry about him," she repeated with conviction. "He can take care of himself."

"Uh, the killer caught Kanji," Yosuke pointed out. "Who in their right mind would kidnap Kanji?"

"Shirogane-san has a gun and lives right by the police station."

"Can't argue with that, I suppose," he conceded after a moment. "What do you want me to do, then? Watch the Midnight Channel again and see if it changes?"

"Exactly."

"All right. Will do." Yosuke nodded his head. "It'll be on. They say this rain will last all night. Funny, because earlier they said that it wasn't supposed to rain at all until tomorrow."

Nanako followed his gaze out the classroom window. Fog had formed on the inner glass, and an idle student whose desk was by the window was now writing nonsense words in the moisture. 

The weather report hadn't said anything about a fog settling in.

While he was still occupied by the rain, Nanako kicked Yosuke's tush. "Move it. I need to get down."

"Hey!" he protested, rubbing the point of contact. "You could've just asked, sheesh." He moved out of her way and sat down in his own seat.

"More fun this way," she declared. She hopped to the floor and then sat down as Kashiwagi walked in to start homeroom.

* * *

Exam results were posted during lunch. With a resigned sigh, Nanako went with the rest of the team down to the first floor to see the damage all the stress had done to her.

Her scores in English and history went down from the previous exam, but there was marked improvement in philosophy and literature. The rest of her subjects remained about the same or had slight improvement. She was passing, but not outstanding. Still above Yosuke and Chie, she was proud to note.

"Man, Nanako," said Yosuke. "How did you get the highest score in philosophy? You even beat out Yukiko-san!"

A hushed silence came over the DEATH squad as everyone save Nanako stared hard at Yosuke.

"Damn, senpai," Kanji said. "Even I know that one."

"What?" said Yosuke, taking a step back. "What'd I do this time?"

"It's preeeetty obvious, Yosuke," Chie said slowly. "Actually, this is kinda like how you messed up with Souji-kun." Yosuke was staring at her blankly, so she added with a sigh, "Who was our philosophy teacher?"

"Well, King Moron," he answered. "But..."

To everyone's surprise, it was Yukiko who took the boy by the arm and pulled him down the hall some distance away. While she was speaking to him in low tones, Chie touched Nanako's arm. "Y-you know he's just... He didn't know."

Nanako stopped biting her fist. "Yeah. I should've kicked him harder this morning, eh?"

The corners of Chie's mouth turned up in a soft smile. "You know, I've never kicked anyone's ass before. You could order him to turn around, and..."

"Chie-senpai!" Kanji exclaimed. He seemed to be looking at her with new respect.

"Thank you, Chie," said Nanako, "but as tempting as it sounds—"

"—cared dearly for him." Yukiko's voice was carrying down the hall and getting louder as she continued. "He wasn't always the most professional teacher, and I will admit that he often wasn't, but he was our teacher, and he tried to make amends with some students, including me. Yes, he was still our teacher, and he deserves respect in death!" Yukiko paused in her shouting, and looked down at the floor. "Especially since he was given so little in life."

Yosuke stammered something at her, but he was too quiet to be heard from the distance. Yukiko, too, quieted down. She put a hand on his arm, making him flinch in surprise, and they spoke a few more words, and then Yukiko headed back to the group. She nodded at Nanako and then stepped to the side while Yosuke approached Nanako, his eyes wide with apprehension. 

"Uh, umm, Nanako?" he said, stopping before her. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize Mr. Morooka was so important to you. A-and to Yukiko-san, too."

Nanako looked him up and down slowly, and his whole body tensed up. Then she sighed. "I think I'll forgive you... if you buy me a soda at Junes after school. And buy something for Yukiko, too."

Yosuke relaxed, and even risked a small smile. Nanako didn't smile back, but she declared that they ought to have lunch, and so they headed up the stairs to their classroom, Kanji staying behind since he was a first-year.

When they headed back to class, Nanako took Yukiko aside. "You were really fired up back there. I thought you said you were afraid of boys!"

Yukiko blinked at her. "Huh? Oh, well, it's just Yosuke-kun..."

Now Nanako smiled, and when Yukiko smiled back, she felt the Priestess link growing stronger.

* * *

The long picnic table was the only canopied table at the Junes food court. When the store had been designed, someone had failed to take into account Inaba's weather. Nanako was seated at said table's head, her typical spot. She enjoyed her large-size cup of The Natural while the rest of the squad talked about their plans for summer break. 

She only half-listened. Every few minutes she'd poke her phone's screen and check to see if Naoto had moved at all. According to the GPS app, he was currently ensconced in the police department and had been in there pretty much all day. The app had been set so that it would cause the phone to beep if Naoto moved more than so many feet from his current position. She probably had a few more hours before it would signal her that Naoto was going home. 

"We could go to the beach," Chie suggested. "We need to get more use out of those swimsuits Nanako bought us, right, Yukiko?"

Yukiko nodded instead of answering because she was busy eating the parfait provided by Yosuke.

"Could be fun," Yosuke murmured. "I guess."

"You guess!? You aren't gonna make a comment about how excited you are to see us in swimsuits again?" Chie almost sounded offended by his unnatural lack of enthusiasm.

He stopped fidgeting with his headphones cords. "Sorry, I'm just... If that guy might be kidnapped, shouldn't we get some training in? We'll have to rescue him. It's been a few weeks since we've been in the TV World. We should be ready." 

"I can't," said Nanako. Her phone wouldn't work in there. She was looking at the screen closely right now. Naoto had moved about twenty feet from where he'd been sitting. Maybe he was getting coffee or using the bathroom. 

She set the phone back down on the table and forced herself not to touch it for at least another five minutes. At this rate, she was turning into a creepy stalker!

She looked at the group. "But you guys can go. You don't need me. Remember, Rule #2 says no one goes alone. It's not 'no one goes without the boss.' And at the end of the day, the four of you can enjoy the bathhouse together."

"Without you?" Yosuke said. "It wouldn't be half as fun."

"He's right, Senpai," Kanji agreed. 

Yosuke began to rub his face, possibly trying to cover up his blush.

"I'm not going to the bathhouse with the boys," Chie said, crossing her arms with finality.

"Why not?" asked Nanako. "There's multiple baths. You don't have to use the same one as them if you wanna be modest. And Kanji-kun will keep Yosuke in line if you're worried about him trying to peek."

Chie looked down at the table, and then at Nanako, a tinge of pink to her cheeks. "Maybe if you were going."

Nanako leaned her head back, appraising her friend. That had been unexpected! 

"I'd feel better if the boys were outnumbered," Chie continued, and Nanako had to agree with that, at least.

"Maybe we shouldn't go in today," Yosuke mused. "We still have school tomorrow, and you know how exhausting it is in there. Since our break starts on Wednesday, maybe we can plan to go in on Thursday or Friday. Maybe Nanako will be free then, and we can make a day of it."

"We can have a picnic!" Yukiko said, her dark eyes sparkling. "We have plenty of food at the inn's kitchen. I can pack a basket, and..."

"And Yosuke can bring the drinks," Nanako said. "A picnic under a black and red sky. We can have it at the creepy shopping district and pretend we're the only survivors of an apocalypse that wiped out the rest of humanity." No one seemed enthusiastic about that, so she growled, "What's wrong with all of you?"

"It's a great idea!" said Yukiko, her dark eyes gleaming. "That out-of-place Junes jingle will underscore the desolation."

"Though we will risk getting the jingle stuck in our head," Nanako conceded. "It's a price I'm willing to pay." 

"I get that every time I come here anyway," said Chie. She waved a hand, indicating the food court.

"If you've ever wondered why I always carry my headphones with me," Yosuke said. "That's why." 

"It's a cute theme," said Kanji. "But I s'pose hearing it every day could be a bit much."

"I'm not here every day," Yosuke objected. "It's not like my home or anything!"

"Just his home away from home," Nanako murmured. It had been five minutes, right? She picked up the phone again—it had been less than three and a half minutes—and Naoto was back where he'd been earlier. She sighed loudly. "So training in the TV World slash picnic on Thursday or Friday, huh? And a beach trip sometime. Anything else going on this summer?"

"Are you going to visit Tokyo?" Yosuke asked. 

Nanako stared up at the canopy, still holding her phone up to her face. She hadn't really given that any thought. She turned the question on him. "Are you going to visit the city you're from?"

He shook his head. "I don't really have any family there."

"What about Katsuragi?"

"What about him? I'm not going to visit just for one old friend! That's just weird. I'm not even that close to him."

"It's not weird," she said. "It's sweet."

"That's worse!"

"You should take Yukiko with you," she suggested. "She's always wanted to see the big city."

Yosuke stared at her, and then looked at Yukiko. "Err..." Then he looked at Chie and ducked his head. "N-no, I don't think I'm going there."

Ah, the glare of the kung fu girl was too much for him. Nanako chuckled. Maybe if she visited Tokyo, she'd bring Yukiko along herself.

* * *

[7/26: Tuesday]

Class was disrupted when police sirens roared by the school. While the other students crowded the windows, Nanako's blood froze. It hadn't been foggy last night. It hadn't! She turned to Yosuke behind her and grabbed him by his dress shirt's collar. "What was on the Midnight Channel!?" she demanded.

"J-just a silhouette again, I swear!" Yosuke squeaked.

She let him go and took out her phone. According to the app, Naoto was at the police station, as per usual. Unsettled, she left the room to call the boy. She walked towards the far stairwell while the phone rang, hoping to avoid any teacher in a lecturing mood.

"Yes?" Naoto answered on the third ring.

Nanako breathed a sigh of relief. "Everything okay over there? We just heard some sirens. I got a little worried."

"The police around me do seem to be in a tizzy," Naoto reported. "I haven't the foggiest idea why. Perhaps I should look into it."

"It's all right. Don't let it distract you. And sorry for bothering you."

"It's quite all right, Nanako-san. Since you are speaking, that Midnight Channel... I was awake at the time to 'tune in' last night. How strange, to see my own silhouette on there. It was like looking into a mirror in the dark."

Naoto went on to wonder about the mechanics behind the phenomenon. "What would happen if you put your hand into the screen while the Midnight Channel was on?"

"Chie tried that, actually," Nanako said. "I think it just makes the screen ripple. That's what happens when you put your hand in a TV that's on a normal program, anyway. I'm not sure, she was more excited about the fact that she could put her hand in the TV at the time," – and that the person on the screen was a girl, she mentally added – "to notice. Crap, Shirogane-san, I gotta go."

Students were beginning to stream out of their classes. It was probably time for the end of term assembly. She sneaked through the crowd until she was with her own class. It seemed that during the commotion over the sirens, Kashiwagi hadn't noticed that she was briefly missing. 

"Everything okay?" Chie asked her. 

"Yes, actually," Nanako answered. 

"Good," said Yosuke. "I was worried you wouldn't come back. After the last time you rushed out like that..."

"When you say that, you make me want to skip the assembly now," Nanako told him. "Come on, let's get this over with." 

The end-of-term assembly was, predictably, a waste. The principal stood up at the podium and spoke at length about how the students should set a good example because they represented the school even during the break. He talked about honesty, integrity, good behavior, all that jazz. Bored, Nanako tried to sneak a look at her phone when she thought Kashiwagi wasn't looking. Chie hissed at her just in time to avoid being caught.

Finally the students around her began to applaud. Nanako shifted from one foot to the other, but the assembly wasn't over. Some of the teachers had to speak, too. Nope, no early release today.

Chie patted her on the shoulder when she let out an exaggerated sigh and pointed out Yosuke, who had definitely put his headphones on and was listening to music instead of the lecture. His head kept bobbing to the beat, and he didn't realize he was doing it, which made it amusing to watch for at least a little bit.

"Where's Yukiko?" Nanako whispered. She'd been in class earlier, she remembered seeing her.

"She skipped!" Chie whispered back. "Just the assembly, anyway. She's helping the inn. It's going to be a busy summer for them, I can tell already. She doesn't like to miss assemblies."

"Mm," Nanako replied. Kashiwagi was glaring in their direction, partially because Chie didn't exactly know what constituted a whisper. 

And then it was over. The students filed back to their classrooms, where they cleaned out their desks for the term and swept the school halls one last time, among other minor cleaning duties. Kashiwagi let them go with some final comment about how tiny her summer swimsuit was—not a visual anyone really needed on the last day of school, or any day, for that matter—and they were free.

"What are your plans now?" Chie asked. "Without Yukiko, I've got nothing."

"I am going home and taking a nap," said Yosuke. "Staying up past midnight takes its toll, you know. I need to catch up."

"You do that," Nanako told him. "Me, I think I'm gonna go see if my cousin is home. We have plans to make."

"If you guys wanna train," Chie said, "hit me up! I think I'll go see if the track team is meeting one last time. See you around!"

* * *

Nanako was glad Chie hadn't offered to come with, simply because her 'plans to make' with Souji involved Chie's birthday. Aiya apparently didn't do gift cards, but they did catering, which was something to consider, but they only catered for parties of over ten individuals. Even counting Chie's appetite for Aiya as two individuals, they didn't have enough to make it worth the catering expense. Chie probably wouldn't mind delivery, though, or the party being hosted at the restaurant itself.

Regardless, there was no question the primary food had to include beef. But what about the cake? Chie might like a meatloaf shaped as a cake, but the other guests wouldn't. Although Nanako wasn't too picky about food herself, she appreciated that some people had more refined palates than she did. She knew for sure that Yosuke was rather picky. He always picked the tofu out of his bento.

Maybe a strawberry cake with red frosting to make it look like it was a meatloaf. She had a feeling Chie would be disappointed that it wasn't an actual meatloaf...

"This is harder than I thought," she complained out loud. 

"M-maybe Chie-san would be happy if we did anything," Souji suggested. "Maybe... maybe both?"

"What, a meatloaf for her and strawberry cake for us?" Nanako tapped her cheek with the pen she was using to brainstorm with. "We'd have to bake 'em separately. Yeah, that's doable. Good idea!"

What else, what else... She didn't want to go overboard with balloons and decorations like she had with Yosuke. Chie didn't seem like she'd be into that. Then again, she might. Hmm... Maybe she should call up Yukiko and see if the girl had insider info on this.

That movie Chie had liked, what had it been called? _Trial of the Dragon,_ yeah. Could she use that as a theme somehow? Make everyone wear karate clothes. No, that was just getting weird.

"Dragons are cool..." Souji commented.

"I don't think dragons were actually involved," Nanako replied with sorrow. "Oh, but I could be wrong! I never saw it. Why don't we have a movie night, you and me, and watch it? Heck, we can ask Chie to bring it over and we'll have a little get-together. I know Yosuke bought her a new copy. She won't have to know that it's research for her birthday."

"C-can we...?" Souji asked. 

"Of course, Sou-chan!" Though Nanako would have to ask Chie if there were any scenes that could frighten the boy. _Be sensitive to your family._ She wasn't going to make another mistake with Souji if she could help it.

* * *

After dinner, Nanako was looking up meatloaf recipes on her phone when it began to beep at her. She almost dropped the damned thing in surprise—not that she'd notice any new cracks on the screen. She swiped away from the browser and to the GPS app to see what happened. 

"The hell?" she whispered.

According to the app, Naoto was everywhere in Inaba at once.

Was it a glitch? The app's beeping was a cacophony as it tried to report every position as the detective's position. 

After about a minute, the app finally righted itself and set the position to Naoto's apartment.

Nanako let out her breath in relief. Yeah, Naoto had probably just left the station and walked home. The app had alerted her around this time last night, too, and the night before that, but it had never glitched out like that, nor had it beeped so damn much. Just one beep—target on the move—and that was it. Not that noise. Her heart was only now calming down, and Souji was looking up at her from the book he was reading at the tea table.

It beeped at her again.

Signal lost.

Signal lost? Nanako stared at the screen and waited, but it wasn't finding the signal. A 'Help' menu popped up, and she touched it, but it only gave basic reasons the signal could be lost—the unit's batteries could be dead, the servers could be under maintenance...

She shook her head, closed the app, and called up Naoto. The phone went right to a recorded message: "The number you have dialed is unavailable right now. The phone may be switched off or outside our coverage area."

The signal was still lost on the app. Taking all of this information together, she could only come to one conclusion. 

Naoto had been kidnapped and was in the TV.

She smiled with satisfaction.

* * *

Nanako relaxed on her couch in her room, awaiting midnight. She turned and moved the window curtain aside to check the weather outside. It was still a steady downpour. She tried to tell herself to relax, but she was shaking with excitement. 

What sort of show would Naoto's be? Oh, man, what if it was like a film noir? It would be in black and white, and Naoto's Shadow would be smoking a cigarette while it had some monologue about troublesome dames.

Yosuke, please record this, she pleaded.

She could do it herself, actually. Didn't her phone have the capability? The GPS app hadn't taken up much space, and the show wouldn't last long anyway. Oh, but her card was mostly full because of that MMORPG she sometimes played. Maybe it was time to uninstall it. She hadn't played in forever, anyway.

Too late, now. It probably wouldn't be done uninstalling before midnight. She should've thought of it sooner. She sighed, put the phone down on the work table, and tried to make herself comfortable on the couch.

With the sound of static, the TV turned on. She opened her eyes wide, frantically trying to take everything in.

Naoto, no, his Shadow, stood in the center of the screen. He wore a white lab coat over his ordinary clothes and still had the signature cap. He introduced himself as the 'Detective Prince.' A sneer came across his features at the second word. Nanako recalled how he'd disliked that nickname. 

The Shadow began to speak further, leaving her no time to contemplate it. "Welcome to 'Experiment of the Century: The Genome Project.' I will be experimentor and experimentee both in a forbidden yet wonderful bodily alteration process!"

Now Nanako noticed that behind the Shadow was a large operating table. Bodily alteration process? Was it... going to use that huge drill and saw connected to the table to operate on Naoto? She swallowed and ran her fingers down her stomach to quell the unease. 

"I will share this glorious occasion, this memorable day, with all of you!"

On live TV? 

No, she told herself. It was just a Shadow. Yukiko hadn't met any 'studs' in her dungeon, and Kanji hadn't found that 'sublime love' after all... 

"All of you," the Shadow repeated. "You, who believe everything you see on TV." 

The entire scene blinked out of sight with the sound of static, only for the screen to turn back on again with a new scene. A boy was standing in front of a castle's drawbridge. The background looked blocky, like it was from a 90s era video game. 

The boy was not Naoto nor his Shadow. He had thin lips, dark eyes, a mole under his left eye, and wore a yellow shirt that had the letters 'WWW' across the chest. 

"Try and catch me," the boy said.

The TV turned off.

Nanako opened and closed her mouth as dozens of questions vied for attention in her mind.

The boy was Mitsuo Kubo. Mr. Morooka's killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying very hard to keep the weather true to canon, but due to some of the divergence in plot, it had to rain on Sunday night for the Midnight Channel to air so that Naoto's silhouette could be on it. In the canon, it was already raining in the morning on Sunday so it's not too unreasonable that it'd keep raining... I'd talk more about this, but I don't want to spoil anything, hehe.
> 
> Also heck yeah, dual Midnight Channel! What would happen if two people were in the TV World at the same time? We toyed with the idea of their shows meshing together, but I'm pretty happy with simply having a second show air immediately after the first. It made Kubo's appearance there even more of a surprise, though maybe some of you following the game's timeline had expected it.
> 
> Next Chapter: Time Stands Still


	32. Time Stands Still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako's desire to go after Kubo leads her into the TV just after midnight... despite dire warnings.

Mr. Morooka's killer was in the TV World. And Naoto, too, but that was secondary. 

Somehow the true killer had gotten ahold of both of them—hadn't Mitsuo Kubo been in jail, or at least the police department? Maybe that's how it happened. He'd put Kubo in there and then followed Naoto home.

Something didn't seem right about that, but Nanako ignored it for now. This took priority. She barely remembered to grab her phone before she headed out of the house, heedless of the hour and the downpour. Within minutes she was soaked through, but the cold wetness did little to dissuade her.

It occurred to her at some point that Junes was closed and probably had a strong security system—not that it would stop her. Getting arrested while breaking in was a risk she'd take. Oh, but she had a way in. Without stopping in her inexorable journey, she took out her phone and called Yosuke. He picked up within a matter of seconds. "Nanako? I guess you watched that, too. I don't even know what to say. Two shows? Does that mean two people are in there? Who was that second guy? And—"

She cut him off. "I'm going in. Get to Junes and open it up for me. Pronto."

"What, the store? I don't have a key to that! Nanako—"

"Steal one."

She hung up and began to walk faster. Minutes later she was past the shopping district and splashing her way down the flood plain. It was a good thing she'd gone to Junes so often that she could make her way there even in the darkness and pouring rain.

A chance. Her chance. It wouldn't come twice, and she wouldn't miss it. Part of her felt that she should be happy. After all, given a chance, she would have throw him into the TV herself. But now that he was inside...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a glint of metal passing by her through the sheets of rain. A bicycle pulled up in front of her. "Nanako!"

Yosuke. She didn't stop for him.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" he called as she passed.

"I'm going after him."

He began to pedal after her. "Have you noticed what time it is? We can save that Shirogane guy tomorrow. Or later today, as it is... Hey, stop! Nanako!"

They were past the bridge now, only a few streets away from Junes. "You've got a key to the store, right?" she stated.

"No."

That was fine. She'd find a way in, with or without his help.

"Nanako?" There was a desperate quality to his voice. "Look, I know you care about the case, I know you respect that detective kid and want to get him out of there, but—"

"It's not him I want."

Yosuke was derailed from his speech for a moment. "That other guy in there?" he hazarded. "Well, regardless, what happened to Rule #2, huh? You were so quick to remind us about it the other day! You can't go in alone!"

"I'm not going alone," she retorted. "You're here."

He stared at her back, for she was still on the move, as the implication set in. "Oh, no!" he objected. "No. I'm not going to indulge you in this."

"Then I'll go alone!" she said, raising her voice over the escalating downpour. "Rules are meant to be broken, Yosuke. This is something I have to do."

"Why, Nanako? Why aren't you listening to reason?" He pedaled ahead of her and then stopped in front of her again. "Oh, I get it. It's because it's coming from me, isn't it? 'Yosuke isn't helping me, so I'll just ignore him, like I always do.'"

"It's not about you," she retorted. "Not everything is about you. I haven't even used your discount in forever. Get out of my way."

Yosuke steered his bike purposely in front of her. "Only because you have Saki-senpai's discount. I know exactly how it is. You only think of me when you want a free soda. For a while there, I thought... I thought you were going to be different, Nanako. You were always a little crazy, but... Now I see it. You're just a regular delinquent."

Her head snapped up to fix him with a glare. "So what if I am, Yosuke?" 

She grabbed one of his handlebars in the attempt to push the bike out of her path. Yosuke's hand covered hers, holding it in place when she tried to pull it back. "What are you going to do, break into the store? I take it back, you aren't a little crazy. You're full on loony! Look at you, you're in this torrent without even a damned umbrella!"

"Let go of me," she snarled. "Or I'll make you."

"You'll make me?"

She leaned in towards his face. She could hardly see him now through the dense deluge. "I'll. Break. You."

"Do it, then," he dared. "It'll just prove that you're a delinquent."

She lifted her free hand in a fist—

—and the world shifted around her. The sensation of falling enveloped her, and she staggered forward. Her surroundings swam back into focus. Yosuke was gone, the bike was gone, the rain was gone.

She was in the Velvet Room.

"Dearest guest," said Igor. "So good of you to stop by."

"Stop by, nothing," Nanako declared. "I thought you said you couldn't interfere, and yet here you are, stopping me from punching Yosuke?"

"This has nothing to do with your Magician," Margaret said.

Igor's bulging eyes remained locked on Nanako. "Your altercation notwithstanding, we have business, you and I."

He swiped his gloved hand over the short table, and where it passed it left behind a spread of face-down tarot cards.

"A guest of your nature allows for endless possibilities," he went on. "Yet in your immediate future, only two paths can be seen."

All the cards faded away, save two.

She waited, but Igor didn't touch the cards. "And?" she prompted.

"By your own hand, please, dear guest."

She started with the left card. She turned it over. The card's face depicted a pointed staff with a key in each top corner. 

Mr. Morooka's card. 

"The Hierophant," said Igor, "represents authority, and, on some level, obedience to it. It is a symbol of knowledge, discipline, and respect."

She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. There was so much more she could have learned from him.

"The other card, if you would."

She turned it over and blanched. The large skull depicted on the card grinned at her.

"Death," said Igor. "It represents an end. An end to an era, an end to a journey, perhaps the end to a life... It can also represent a new beginning, in the way that the ashes of a phoenix give rise to new life."

"I have to choose between these two?" she croaked. 

"Not at this very moment, but quite soon. Remember, dear guest, that you are—"

"Responsible for my own actions," she interrupted. "Yeah, I got it, thanks."

She could hear Igor's dry chuckle as the Velvet Room faded away.

The torrent of cold rain blasting at her brought her back to her senses in the real world. Her fist was still raised to punch Yosuke. She lowered it for a moment, hesitating, and then brought it back up. Her open-palm punch caught the boy on his jaw, knocking him flat off his bike and into the mire of mud on the side of the road. It was a good thing, perhaps, that he was wearing his bike helmet.

As he swore and scrambled to his feet, she sighed. "I get it," she said. "You don't approve of me. Well, I don't care, not right now. I only need one thing from you. One thing, and I'll never bother you again."

His answer was a string of curses; his bike had fallen on top of him.

"Listen to me, Yosuke. Maybe you'll understand. That other boy in there. His name is Mitsuo Kubo." She paused before adding, "He killed Mr. Morooka."

Yosuke paused in his struggle to pull his bike upright and watched her closely, as if gauging whether or not she would strike him again. He rubbed his jaw where the blow had landed. "You serious?" he finally asked. "How'd he get in the TV?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I want to find out. Get me into Junes. That's all I want from you."

"Nanako."

"Please."

"I'm not lying to you. I don't have a key." He wiped away some dirt from his bike's handlebars. "...But I do have the security code for the automatic alarm."

She made an unashamedly victorious gesture.

"Now you wait a minute, delinquent girl," he went on quickly. "You are not going in there alone. I'm going to call up the others, and we'll do this together, as we've always done, or not at all. You got that?"

"You want to wait in this?" Nanako indicated the rain around them. It had lightened up a little, but it was still nothing less than a downpour. "We go inside and call them there. And dry up while waiting for them. Now, which door do you think would be the easiest to open without a key?"

"Just... follow me," he said with a resigned sigh. 

Several minutes later he was watching Nanako attack the lock to the employee's entrance door with one of the bricks used to line the landscaped garden path and muttering 'delinquent girl' to himself repeatedly.

"Shut up, Yosuke," she growled. "If you aren't going to help..." She took aim and hit the lock with a glancing blow. More damage was done to the brick than the lock. "Once the door's open, how long do we have before the alarm goes off?"

"About a minute," he replied. "Don't worry. I can key it in blindfolded."

"See? You are good for something."

His retort was lost in the sound of the hinge that held the lock snapping under Nanako's next blow. She opened the door and ordered Yosuke in without ceremony.

The room was lit by faint emergency lights along the floor. It seemed to be a break room with lockers against the wall, a couch, some chairs, and a small table. She saw Yosuke's form at the far wall. He punched the security code into a device built into the wall, and after a few beeps from it, he told her it was all clear.

"Now, the main power is turned off at night," he said, his voice a harsh whisper as if someone might overhear them. "The elevators won't be running, so we'll have to use the stairs to get to the electronics department. The stairs are right next to the elevators. I'm gonna call the others now. Don't go wandering! I'm honestly not sure if we have nighttime security cameras or where they are. I think they're mainly around the main entrance."

She ignored his exhortation while he made his first call and peered into the room adjacent to this little break room. It was an empty hallway. She tried to consult her mental map of Junes to figure out where they might be. East side... should be near the bakery. If that was the case, then...

She strode out into the hall, swung left, and followed the dimly lit path right to the stairs. No alarms went off—so much for a sneaking mission! She took the stairs two at a time and didn't slow even when she reached the electronics department, where she leaped right into the TV.

"Boss?" said Teddie, looking up at her from his position on the backlot floor. "What are you—"

"Where is Kubo?" she demanded.

The bear's big eyes blinked at her. "W-well, there are two new people in here. Three, if we count you! Oh, boy, I've been wanting to tell you so much! They both came in just yesterday, Boss, and—"

"Where?" she repeated. "Shirogane-san's apartment is south of Junes, so that's where he'll be. But I'm not sure where Kubo's lair is going to be."

"I know, I know!" Teddie cheered. "They're both that way!" He twirled and pointed a hand towards the replica shopping district.

She was right, then. Kubo had gone missing by the police station.

She went to the storage crate—a new one, she'd replaced the one Kanji had broken long ago—and began to dress herself up for combat. She donned a set of open-finger gloves and twirled her naginata with a grimace. She was out of practice. This was going to be her riskiest gambit yet.

"Show me, Teddie," she said, and the bear skipped along in an excited display.

"Wait," said a voice behind her. Yosuke, of course. She didn't turn around, but she heard him step forward. "Nanako... The others are on their way. They're not happy, but they're coming. You're lucky. Yukiko-san was staying with Chie tonight, otherwise she wouldn't be able to come. The buses don't run this late."

"Good," she said, looking up into the yellow haze above the backlot.

"Nanako..." he began.

"Come," she told him. She prodded Teddie, and the bear led the way into the mist until they reached what appeared to be a military bunker surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The building was metal-framed with large satellite dishes on its roof pointing in several directions. Traffic cones littered the concrete in front of it. A large red light blinked on and off by the entrance. There were some trees around the building, but upon closer inspection they were fake.

"This is probably that Shirogane kid's dungeon," Yosuke remarked. "If you're gonna do some mad science, this would be the place. That's what his Midnight Channel show was about, right? A body alteration... I'm not sure I want to know."

Naoto's dungeon. Naoto was in there, possibly unconscious or facing his Shadow. Nanako had prepared him as well as she could to accept his Shadow in case he ended up in the TV like this, but sometimes it was difficult to apply theory to reality. At the same time, Yukiko had accepted her Shadow without anyone's help, so who knew?

"Boss! Your friends just came in!" said Teddie. "Should I bring 'em here?"

Nanako sighed. "Yes, Teddie. Quickly, though!"

Yosuke glanced at her without saying a word before following the bear to the backlot.

Alone. She could think now. How were they going to approach this? Naoto needed rescuing, and Kubo needed... well... he needed...

Split the team into two groups. No, that wouldn't work. There was no one she wanted with her. Definitely not when she made it to the end of Kubo's dungeon. Solo was the only option. She could do it. She'd done all right on her own in the bathhouse. The rest of them would work well together. They had someone specializing in each element. And Teddie for support. It'd be a cinch. They'd save Naoto, and she'd deal with Kubo.

Yes, that was the best plan.

"Nanako! What the hell is going on?" It was Chie, along with others. She and Yukiko both looked haggard from interrupted sleep, and all of them looked none too pleased with the situation.

"Look," Nanako told them right out, "we've got two people in here that need dealing with. We're on summer break. We can sleep all day tomorrow. Let's get this over with." 

"When's the fog supposed to set in?" Chie asked. "We don't have to do it all in one night."

"We do because I have to..." Nanako blinked. 

She had to. She had to reach Kubo, didn't she? Just like Izaya-san had said. 

But...

"We've got to get that detective kid out of here," Kanji said, "but who's the other one?" 

Silently, Nanako handed the group the photograph Naoto had given her of Mitsuo Kubo. The ink was runny from the rain, but the boy was still recognizable. 

Chie read the name aloud. "Huh. Hey, it's that boy who asked you out by the school gates, Yukiko!"

"Who?"

"He killed Mr. Morooka," Yosuke informed them.

Chie covered her mouth in surprise. "So that's why... Nanako... You want to bring him to justice."

Instead of answering, Nanako looked away.

"Well, we're here anyway," Chie continued. "We might as well do this. What's the plan, Nanako?"

"You guys are going to go—" 

The way Yosuke was looking at her reminded her of how she'd punched him earlier. 

The Hierophant... or Death.

"You guys," she repeated, torn. 

Her chance, her single chance. It was right there.

"sh-should..."

Right there.

"...go after Kubo," she finished. "Teddie. Show them the way there. I'll save Shirogane. I know the guy much better than any of you. I know that's no guarantee of what his Shadow is gonna be like, but I'm confident."

"You're going completely alone?" Yosuke said, incredulous. "Now you're really on the crazy train. At least take Teddie."

Nanako rolled her eyes. "Teddie? Please. No. I'll do this on my own. You four can work as a team. I believe in you. Catch that bastard and tie him up. Go, go."

_Go before I change my mind._

"I can't be the only one who thinks this is a bad idea!" Yosuke cried. 

Yukiko and Chie exchanged glances. Kanji shrugged. "Senpai says she can handle it," he said. "Wouldn't trust anyone else to go alone. She can switch her Persona, you know. Makes her tougher'n all of us."

"She's not invincible," Yosuke protested further.

"Not invincible," Nanako agreed, "just crazy."

Kanji put a hand on Yosuke's shoulder and turned him in the direction Teddie was heading. Nanako overheard him whisper, "Yosuke-senpai... you gotta understand. Sometimes there are things people just have to do."

She watched them leave her sight, and then turned towards Naoto's dungeon. She hefted her naginata and went inside.

It led her directly onto a metal catwalk made of chain-links, the guardrails covered in yellow-and-black warning tape. Radioactive green blobs oozed out of metal pipes in the walls and dripped to the floor. Metal crossbeams passed overhead, painted with hazard warnings. 

Naoto wanted to be a scientist more than a detective, apparently.

Wait a minute. Nanako slowed to stare at a red banner hanging prominently on the wall. It was embroidered with a stylized golden bird with its wings outstretched. She recognized it. Not a scientist; Naoto wanted to be a Featherman villain! Now that she noticed, she could see that the entire environment seemed lifted right from the show. No wonder he'd been so understanding about her not wanting to miss Sunday morning television. 

The same stylized bird decorated the door at the end of the hallway. Inside she found a control room of some sort, with consoles hooked up to computer screens, but when she tried to press any buttons, it didn't do anything but beep at her. Naoto's subconscious hadn't created a working lab, just a facsimile of one—much like a set piece for the TV show it was based on, perhaps.

The most difficult thing about entering a new dungeon wasn't getting used to the unfamiliar surroundings—it was encountering new brands of Shadows whose strengths, weaknesses, and skills were completely unknown. Nanako was flying blind here. It was exhilarating in a way, in the same capacity as it was frightening, not knowing whether her attack would destroy the target or the attack would be sent flying back at her. And all of the Personas in her current repertoire had at least one weakness that made them a liability. 

Jack Frost, as cute as he was, loathed fire, which was exactly what the newest form of hablerie used on her. She dodged the inferno, nearly falling off the catwalk in the process—hey, maybe she could skip trying to find the stairs to the next floor and just climb down, wouldn't that be nice?—and had the Persona freeze the damned tongue-ball where it floated in the air. 

She looked over the edge of the catwalk, but there was, in fact, flooring down there made up of the panels that held the green-tinted fluorescent lights that illuminated the place. It would never be that easy, she realized with a sigh.

The corridors all looked the same to her; that was one thing she actually missed about Teddie's support. He was good at keeping a mental map of the places they'd been to in a dungeon, at least until the dungeon warped itself into a new configuration. It was too bad his support abilities were so pitiful. It would be nice if she could remain in contact with the others through him while they worked through the two dungeons, if only for peace of mind.

She decided on the tried-and-true right hand method. She also made a habit of marking the ground at every intersection where she'd been before—a little bit of that green ooze on the tip of her naginata did the trick—just in case she got turned around after a Shadow encounter.

Which she ran right into after turning the next corner too fast. Slow down, she told herself while pulling up her naginata into attack position. She couldn't let Yosuke's concern for her be justified. Not now.

The Shadows were a pair of basalts: rock-shaped Shadows with purple arcana masks in the center and a couple of hands sticking out at odd angles just to add to the creepy factor. One targeted her with an ice attack that did nothing to her due to Jack Frost still being in the forefront of her mind, while the other emitted a noxious-looking gas that she couldn't avoid. It didn't seem to do anything. If Teddie was here... No, he probably wouldn't have any idea what that just did, either. 

To switch her Persona or not? If the enemy continued to use ice, it would be prudent to keep the current one set, but for that same reason, the enemies were likely strong to anything it could dish out. Nullifying their ice resistance was a possibility as well.

Too many options, really. She went with the simplest and brought down her blade on the nearest basalt. The rock wasn't as heavy as it looked. She knocked it over by catching the blade on one of its crags. The other basalt sent ice at her again, causing her to grin since it still did nothing to her.

And then the statue in the center of the chamber that she'd thought was just a decoration opened up, spewing forth a blue mist that brought her to her knees. 

Exhaustion overcame her, and she had trouble focusing on the battle at hand. She speared the knocked-over basalt, destroying it, but rather than satisfaction, it sent pain shooting through her head. She hissed, and the statue opened up again, this time sending powerful blades of wind that cut at her skin. She somehow found the strength to remain standing and switched to Cu Sith, hoping at least one of the enemies would be weak to wind. No such luck, and now the basalt sent ice at her that this Persona was not strong against.

Now the exhaustion wasn't induced by a Shadow's ability, it was due to physical pain. She hurriedly called out for Izanami to sing for her, and was soothed somewhat by the goddess. She gripped her naginata and slammed it into the statue as it tried to pour out more of that exhausting mist. She wasn't going to let that happen again. 

Finally the statue was defeated, and she returned to Jack Frost to finish off the basalt, but damn, that battle had been far too close for her liking, and it was only her second one. At this rate, she wouldn't make it to the second floor, let alone Naoto. 

She should've stuck with her original plan. That chance, her chance, she was missing it right now, letting the others have it, and they wouldn't take it, she knew them, they wouldn't.

She gripped her naginata and considered it. Going back. She was only two hallways into Naoto's dungeon. She'd catch up with the others, easily. And then the chance would be hers again. Naoto could wait, right?

No, he needed out of here. She'd promised him that she'd save him if he ended up in here like this. And she had to know how their plan had failed for him to end up in here in the first place. She was responsible for him. She had to get him out.

But screw fighting these Shadows. She was going to have her stealth mission, and it was going to be now.

* * *

Eight floors and several ID cards later—the security on this place was nuts!—Nanako was finally at the bottom level. 

The pressure-locked door before her was magnitudes larger than any she'd encountered on higher levels, and there was no other path on this floor. She didn't need Teddie to know that this was it.

With shuddering mechanical noises, the door opened. Behind it was Naoto, gesticulating at his lab-coat wearing Shadow. "Yes, I am scared," he stressed at it, "but there are more important things than my mental state right now."

The yellow-eyed Shadow sneered at him. "What, like your pride?"

"My pride..." Naoto murmured.

"Yes," the Shadow went on before he could say more. "Aren't you so proud of yourself? Living up to the Shirogane name, becoming the ace detective that Grampa helped you become. How proud you are of the professional attitude and appearance that you've so painstakingly groomed." The Shadow straightened its cap on its head and affected Naoto's casual standing posture. Then it began to chuckle. "How proud you are of how you outsmarted the police when they attempted to deal said pride a hefty blow by removing you from the case so unceremoniously."

"I only chose the most prudent course of action—"

"By involving the media, who care only about our 'handsome looks' and our status as a child prodigy in the interest of ratings. The public had to be informed. That's what you told yourself. Why, you think it served the greater good? As if knowing the true killer was still at large, the public could better protect themselves. If it was that simple then what are we doing in here, hmm?"

"Y-yes, the plan didn't... It was caught on a snag..." Naoto admitted, his voice wavering. Then he shook his head and rallied on. "But that is also unimportant. Remember, the goal is to catch the killer. Two killers, in fact."

The Shadow laughed, its whole body shaking with wry amusement. "You say that's your goal, but it isn't. No, your one and only goal was to be the child prodigy who solved this serial killing mystery that so stumped the experts. An achievement that no one could ever look down upon. It all comes down to your sensitive ego." It glanced at Nanako. "This town and its citizens matter little to you. What matters is what they can do for you."

"I can't say I'm much different there, Shirogane-san," Nanako declared. 

Naoto stepped backward in surprise; despite the noise from the door opening, he hadn't noticed Nanako's arrival. She saw that he didn't have his anti-fog glasses, so he might not have seen her standing there watching the exchange. "Nanako-san," he said, his lips turning up slightly, glad for her presence.

"But let me tell you," Nanako went on. "You've got nothing if you don't have pride. Whether you're going after the killer for your personal gain, or for your family's name, well, it doesn't matter because we're still doing the right thing, bringing about justice. I'm going after Kubo for revenge, plain and simple. Our personal motivations are irrelevant, as long as the job gets done. That's how I see it."

Naoto set his mouth in determination. "You're correct. My goals here were not selfless. I loathed how the police discarded me when they thought they could make a case for Kubo being the serial killer. All of the time and effort I spent on the case were trivialized, and indeed, intentionally or not, my reputation was likely to be damaged by their actions. Being treated like a tool is par for the course for a detective, but my pride would not allow it in this instance." 

The Shadow tilted its head as if considering the detective's acceptance of its words. Its posture seemed to relax. It nodded at Naoto, but it didn't turn into a Persona. It smiled, but it was not a pleasant smile. "But isn't it too bad that your entire reputation is built upon a falsehood, Detective Prince? If the truth were discovered, oh, you'd never be trusted again. You'd be mocked, and teased, and bullied by your very own peers. That's how it was before, wasn't it? That's why you developed this... this identity."

Naoto sighed. "I thought I had come to terms with this. Apparently not. Nanako-san..."

"You wonder why life is so unfair," the Shadow continued. "Every time you look in the mirror, you wonder this... Detective Prince. If everyone only knew how stupid that nickname truly is, wouldn't you say so, _Prince?_ " 

As it stressed the last word, Nanako blinked, understanding the implication. She put her hands on her hips and turned to the Shadow. "What, and girls can't be princes?" she demanded. "I'd rather be a prince than a princess myself!"

"'Naoto' is such a manly name for a girl," the Shadow said with a sneer. Despite Nanako's interruption, it didn't take its gaze from Naoto. "But you are a girl, and you will never be the ideal man that you wish to be. The rugged detective that you admire from your novels. Unless, ah—!" The Shadow pretended to spy the operating table for the first time. It moved to it now and ran its fingers along the saw's blade with a longing sigh. 

"I wouldn't go that far," Naoto said, looking ill at ease. 

"Wouldn't you...?" the Shadow whispered. "No more would the men at the police station look down on you for being a woman. No longer would they keep you from the gritty, interesting cases that they might claim would harm your delicate, womanly sensibilities. If you were one of them, then you'd already have their respect and their esteem. You've dreamed of it. I know. I am you, after all."

"You're—" Naoto began.

Nanako breathed in sharply and gripped her naginata. There was no way she could win against a Shadow here on her own. She'd only barely managed to squeak by the giant mecha guarding the ID card on the fourth floor by running like hell away from it. "Shirogane, please!" she cried. "If you want to be a man, a woman, or anything in between, it doesn't make one difference to me."

"Oh, but doesn't it?" the Shadow taunted, finally addressing Nanako. "Won't you try to make her accept that she's a woman? All the while telling yourself that it's for her own good. That's the way it should be, shouldn't it?" 

"No way," Nanako replied. "What sort of friend would I be if I didn't accept you for who you are? Or more importantly, who you want to be? Nothing's gonna change between us, Shirogane-san. Well, maybe some things—like I didn't have the hots for you already, heh heh... But I'll respect whatever decision you make regarding your own body."

Both Naoto and the Shadow were staring at Nanako after her admission. She was just being honest! That's all the Shadows wanted, after all.

And then the two were chuckling in sync. As Nanako watched, the Shadow dissolved into velvet blue smoke that formed into a Persona. It looked like a tiny boy in a blue suit. It flew in place with iridescent butterfly wings. Naoto turned to it, a peaceful look on her face. "Sukuna-Hikona," she murmured. 

The Persona faded from sight. Nanako stepped forward and put her arm around Naoto's shoulders, steadying her, and the detective turned into her and soon it was a hug. "Are you all right, Shirogane-san?" she whispered.

"For a given value of 'all right,'" Naoto replied with a sigh. "You came for me so fast, Nanako-san... Thank you."

"I promised."

"You prepared me well and yet I was not prepared at all. I..." Naoto swallowed, and Nanako rubbed her back and told her it would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naoto's gender identity is something we will be exploring throughout the story. For now, Nanako thinks of Naoto as a woman, but it's not necessarily going to stay that way as their friendship grows.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Point of No Return


	33. The Point of No Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako and Naoto enter Kubo's dungeon to catch up to the rest of the Investigation Team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: This chapter contains graphic violence.

"Do you have your glasses?" Nanako asked when Naoto finally pulled away from the embrace. 

The detective nodded and pulled them out of her pants pocket. "In my panic, I didn't remember to put them on." She did so now and noted how much better she felt already with them on. "You weren't wrong about the fog sapping one's strength."

"I'm glad you have your glasses," Nanako said, "because I'm going to need you. Mitsuo Kubo is in here. In the TV World. We need to get him out, too. I already have my friends going after him. I came for you myself because... Well, it was a good thing, wasn't it? I won't tell them that you're a woman if you don't want me to."

"Mitsuo Kubo," Naoto repeated. "Yes, he did go missing. That is what had the police so worked up today. He somehow escaped from their custody."

"And somehow ended up in a TV. Perhaps the true killer was upset with him for trying to take credit."

Naoto was hugging herself and looking through the chain-link flooring beneath them. "Nanako-san, the true killer..."

"Shirogane-san...?"

The detective shuddered. "I went home today as I normally do, at the regular time. In the past, before you were candid with me about this world, I essentially lived at the station and kept long hours there, but as it is now, I've settled into a routine. A predictable routine—perhaps the killer had been watching me. Nothing seemed amiss when I came home, but..." She lapsed into silence, and Nanako waited for her to continue. "When I checked my laptop, it reported that my apartment's door had seen activity perhaps twenty minutes before I arrived home. While I was puzzling over it, I was grabbed from behind."

"He was in your apartment, just waiting for you," Nanako breathed. "Oh, no..."

"There was nothing I could do. A cloth was over my mouth before I could scream, and though I tried not to breathe, and struggled as best I could, I couldn't hold my breath for long. In the end, I never saw my assailant. I can't even recall if he wore gloves when he handled me."

"I'm so sorry," Nanako whispered. "I thought we'd accounted for everything."

"I don't know how he broke into my apartment," Naoto said. "The windows were alarmed, and the door's lock hadn't been broken. I would have noticed that coming home. I..." She was shaking now. Nanako put a hand on her arm in support, and Naoto placed her own over it in appreciation.

"Are you... are you all right to do this now?" Nanako asked. "Learn about your Persona and fight Shadows? I could use your help in capturing Kubo, but I understand completely if..."

Naoto closed her eyes, her lips drawn tight. A long moment later, she reopened them and stared right into Nanako's eyes. "Kubo needs to be brought in. Tell me what I need to know. I feel Sukuna-Hikona with me now, and he agrees."

"Let's start by getting out of here."

* * *

"A secret base. How ridiculous," Naoto muttered from outside the dungeon. "My subconscious made this? You'd think it'd be a police station."

"Considering the time you spend there, yeah," said Nanako, "but, well, that's why it's called the subconscious. Souji-kun would love this place. He's a big fan of Featherman."

"I have the entire series," Naoto admitted. She tugged her cap low on her head in embarrassment.

"The manga? Can I borrow it?" Nanako asked. "I'm gonna run out of Loveline soon enough. I've been reading it to him before bed."

"Unfortunately, my collection is at the Shirogane estate. I'm sorry."

Nanako shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well. Anyway, Teddie led the others this way, so..." 

She carefully navigated around the barbed wire fence surrounding the base, Naoto following not far behind. They were alone in the mist for about the length of a block when they heard the Junes jingle ringing out at them. Just a few steps later and Nanako was met with an unfamiliar sight.

The river was wrong. The bridge over it was wrong. The trees in the field behind it were wrong, too. None of it was real. That wasn't water in the river, those weren't leaves on the trees. They were blocks, they were...

"So the TV World can not only produce entire buildings," Naoto commented, "but render low-definition voxels as well. This is fascinating."

"He thinks this is all a game, huh?" Nanako kicked one of the blocky trees, and something fell out of the branches and onto her head. A Chewing Soul. She glared at it and then swore to come back there later, paint every tree in Kubo's likeness, and kick each and every one of them for a prize.

"That building up ahead, is that Junes?"

Nanako blinked and looked past the blocky trees. Towering far above them was a massive building with the word 'Junes' plastered on it. We did hear the jingle, she thought. "That's... Naoki-kun's Junes? Yeah, it must be."

"There's a brick wall next to it," Naoto observed. 

Dwarfed by the Junes, it was hard to notice. Nanako wasn't at the detective's level when it came to observation, apparently, because she hadn't seen it at all. The brick wall was yellow, and there was a door within it. Above the door was written 'Void Quest.' It had the same blocky appearance as Kubo's other creations, including a blocky animal skull ornamenting the door.

When they approached the door, a menu popped up in front of them, straight from an old-school RPG.

> New Game  
> Continue  
> Options

The 'New Game' option was grayed out, and the cursor was on 'Continue.' Perhaps it represented how the rest of her friends had already entered the place.

"If Naoki-kun's dungeon is so close to Kubo's," Nanako remarked, "then they must've been thrown into TVs that are very near each other." 

Naoto took out a notebook and prepared to write. "Knowing the location of my dungeon, where would you say this is in the real world?"

Naoto's dungeon would correspond to her apartment. Naoki's dungeon was south of Junes in the real world. Just a short ride south in Adachi's police car...

"The police station," she answered.

She felt dizzy all of a sudden and leaned against the blocky tree for support. That the true killer could be a cop... It was always a tragedy when someone representing the law turned against it. What if her dad had been working on the case? He could just as easily been thrown into the TV as Naoto had been.

"A policeman calling upon me wouldn't have been unusual," Naoto said. "With his authority, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to be granted access to my apartment, either. It's something I'll have to look into once we're out of this place."

"If he got in that way once," Nanako murmured, "what's to stop him from getting in that way again?"

"I know." Naoto's voice was so hushed that it was hard to hear over the Junes song. She passed her hand over her eyes. "We'll... we'll have to find out for certain how he made it inside. I may need to move to an entirely new place, but it wouldn't be difficult for someone to track such a move..."

"Stay with someone," Nanako suggested. "You can stay with me, even. I have a couch, and I already know your secret, and you already know Souji-kun! It's perfect."

"I might just take you up on that," Naoto said, rubbing her temple. "The very idea of returning to that apartment after this makes me nauseous."

"I can't imagine how it must feel. To not feel safe in your own home..." She hadn't considered it before. Did Yukiko now hesitate when a delivery came for her at the inn? She imagined Kanji not letting his mother answer the delivery door at the textiles shop. The wounds inflicted on them would run deep.

"Please, let's focus on the task at hand for now," the detective said with a resigned sigh. "Your friends are in this... dungeon, correct? Is there a way to contact them?"

Nanako nodded and entered Kubo's dungeon. It was primarily a long hallway with gray stone walls and gray stone floor in the same blocky style as the trees outside. A few feet in there was a metal gate with a lock, but it was simply painted onto the wall as a part of its design. 'Void Quest,' huh? It wasn't difficult to figure out what video game series it was based on. Maybe she'd get lucky and they'd run into a Metal Slime. 

Was it because he thought it was all a game? Or did Kubo just like video games a lot? Maybe he wished his life was one. Under ordinary circumstances, Nanako could sympathize with that. Real life sucked. But did it suck enough to kill someone for it...?

She called out for Teddie, but there was no response, and she didn't sense his connection in her mind. "We never did bother testing the range of his abilities," she told Naoto, "so... I know he couldn't help us from outside the bathhouse when we were within it. It could be we have to be on the same floor."

"Then let us proceed. There is a path here going up."

The next floor already? Nanako was puzzled for a moment, and then realized the dungeon had made this path for them. It probably led to the last floor her friends had visited. A shortcut! They'd reach everyone in no time with this.

At the top of the stairs, she tried contacting Teddie once again, but there was still no response. She became worried then. Had her friends managed to finish the dungeon? If so, then Kubo had been secured.

But they couldn't have, because the shortcut hadn't brought them to the very top. The passage ahead of them went off in four different directions. If it was the final floor, it would have led them to the final room. And if Teddie was out of the dungeon, he would've sensed Nanako when they were outside and made contact. No, her friends were still in here, perhaps still on this floor.

She chose a direction at random and marked it on the wall in case they came down this path again in their attempt to find the next floor. 

"All right, Shirogane-san," she murmured, drawing her naginata up. "There's your first Shadow up ahead. We'll try fighting it and see what your Persona can do!"

Naoto took her gun out of its holster with some hesitation. "I've only fired this at the practice range. I don't carry much ammunition with me for it."

"Make every shot count."

"I intend to."

The Shadow crawled futilely against the wall as they watched.

"Mindless things, really," Nanako muttered. 

"It's not amorphous," Naoto observed. "It appears to be the upper half of a torso, with arms and a head. Locomotion is by the forelimbs..."

"It'll turn into something else when we attack. Which will be... now!" Nanako leaped forward and brought down her naginata on its back. The Shadow writhed and then grew into a military tank with scarlet ceremonial decorations.

"A tank?" Naoto said. "It doesn't quite fit the theme of this place. Perhaps it—oh, it's moving on its own!"

Fire erupted from the tank's turret, catching Nanako and making her scream as searing pain engulfed her. The flames faded as quick as they came, and Nanako struggled to pull herself back to her feet and change her Persona at the same time. Jack Frost wasn't cutting it anymore; she really needed to visit the Velvet Room the next chance she got.

The tank, still aimed at her, began to power up, and Nanako hadn't yet managed to get up, the memory of the pain too intense. But as she watched, a sigil of light appeared on the floor under the tank. The sigil glowed, and then the Shadow was destroyed. 

"Are you all right?" Naoto called. 

"Light skills? They almost never work," Nanako remarked. "Well, I'm glad it made an exception today."

"My Persona specializes in both light and dark," Naoto told her. "I used what seemed appropriate."

"Sounds good to me. I trust your instincts. You kind of saved my butt there, and it was your first fight!" 

The detective offered a hand, and Nanako accepted it and rose to her feet.

"You... you're really all right?" Naoto asked again, observing her closely. "That fire... it was rather intense. It's hard to believe that your clothes aren't singed, at the very least. You told me about this, but witnessing it firsthand is an entirely different matter." 

"Yeah, this world doesn't make any sense. But that fire was doubly painful because this little guy," – she summoned her Jack Frost for demonstration – "happens to be weak against fire, which makes me weak against it."

"Perhaps it's not the world that makes the elements behave differently," Naoto said, "but the Persona we wield. The Persona lends us its strength and abilities. My senses feel heightened here. At first I felt it was the world, but I believe it's Sukuna-Hikona." She took out her gun and sighted at the torch on the wall. "Yes, he'll help me take my shots."

"It would explain the whole weaknesses deal," Nanako agreed. She summoned Izanami to sing the healing melody, and any aches remaining from the fire were washed away. "Let's get going. If there was a Shadow this way, then they didn't come this way. We'll go back and try another path."

She was starting to worry. There was one other reason that could result in Teddie failing to notice her, especially if they were on the same floor, and that was that the worst had befallen her comrades. 

Alternatively, it could be that the squad had found the next floor just as Naoto and Nanako entered it. Or that Teddie's range wasn't even an entire floor. She wished she'd given them some instruction on marking the path for her. Hell, even the string method they'd used in Yukiko's Castle would've been great. 

"Nanako-san, there is something I wanted to bring up," Naoto said while they were continuing down an empty hallway. "When you interceded with my Shadow, you mentioned that you're going after Kubo, and I quote, 'for revenge.'" 

"Plain and simple," Nanako asserted, slowing down to look Naoto in the eyes. "I wanted him to suffer."

Naoto slowed too, and she saw how Nanako's fingers had curled into a fist. "You were intent on discovering his identity from the start," she noted. "I didn't realize that intent was personal."

"I wanted to strangle him with my own two hands!" Nanako declared, stopping entirely.

The detective blinked at her. She rested a hand on her hip. "So you planned to kill Kubo yourself. I never saw that coming. I will have you know that murder is a grave federal offense, Nanako-san."

"Even the murder of a murderer?"

"Yes. That is only acceptable in self-defense, and even that must be decided by the court. You should know this."

"I do." Nanako held her fist up, trembling. 

"If you pursued that goal, had I the authority, I would be interested in bringing you in myself."

Nanako glanced at her sideways. "I might have liked that."

Naoto snickered—it sounded like a suppressed cough—and Nanako laughed too, though she sensed Naoto would bring this up again at a later date. It was too serious to ignore. Nanako wasn't a murderous psychopath, but...

But... 

They found no Shadows down this path, and after a sharp turn and through a door, there was a staircase going up. Nanako nodded at Naoto, and they headed up.

A large door greeted them. This was the final floor, then. Muffled noise came from the other side—were her friends fighting Kubo's Shadow now? 

She told Naoto to get ready and began to open the door, only for it to be slammed off its hinges and towards the corridor, nearly taking Nanako with it. She could have sworn she saw something flying with the door, but there was no time to check. The scene before her was chaos enough.

For starters, her friends were out. Chie lay against a crater on the wall; Yukiko on the ground close to her, her left arm in a very unnatural position; Kanji clutching his chair for support, face full of blood; Yosuke heavens knew where. Nanako felt as though her chest would burst. Kubo. Kubo did this. Kubo hurt her friends. "Izanami!" she shouted, her broken voice somewhere between ordering and begging, and the goddess set out to heal Kanji, who was closest.

_Crack._

Nanako clutched her head in pain as Izanami's form shattered before her. She swayed to the side as the ground seemed to give in under her feet. She feared it would end right there, before she even saw the bastard with her own eyes—but she was not alone. Naoto helped her, stopped her from falling, and so they raised their heads to stare at the enemy, together.

Not Kubo.

An eye within a void gazed upon her so deeply that her mind no longer seemed safe. The eye was so large, she could be staring at the sky, and indeed, something about the blue and purple ringlets surrounding the pure black pupils made her think of the red and black vortex that covered the TV World.

_Crack._

Though the sound was the same as before, her Personas were safe, and there was no pain in her head. Something else was crumbling. Something tangible, spread over the ground like broken glass. Nanako looked up. A second eye was revealed. She took a step back, outside the room, and finally the true form of the enemy was clear to her.

Battered blue fur, claws the size of cars, a cracked face, mouth fixed into a smile. Teddie, turned into a monster.

"T-Teddie?" she stuttered as the creature continued to gaze upon her.

"This is Teddie?" Naoto asked, gun in hand, sights set on a target that couldn't possibly be a friend.

"Ah..." the creature exclaimed, a deep, booming voice that echoed through the chamber and maybe even the dungeon itself. "You have arrived, Boss."

The creature raised its claw, previously burrowed deeply on the ground, and pointed to something.

"I have a gift for you."

Nanako held her breath before looking.

There was a lump of flesh on the corner, colored blocks scattered all around it. Nanako didn't know what it was, only that she didn't want to. But the creature... Teddie... went a step further, and stabbed the lump, raising it above for her to see.

A baby. No, a fetus.

Too large to be real, and yet... Nanako knew that it was not dead. Despite the wounds, despite the blood, the fetus kept struggling. When it managed to open its eyes, they looked directly at Nanako.

Emptiness.

Desperation.

Purpose?

No... 

Void.

Void quest.

_Crack._

Nanako heard a voice that was not her own, a voice she would not be able to remember.

"Mitsuo attacks! Thou hast done well in killing Morooka.

Mitsuo hath been promoted to the next level. Thy attention increases by 16. Thy fame increased by 17. Thy coolness increases by 3."

She felt tears streaming down her face, and promptly ended them.

She stared back into the fetus' lifeless yellow eyes.

_I want to end him!_

_I want to make him suffer!_

_I want... I want..._

Death... Or the Hierophant... 

"I want the truth!"

_Crack. Crack. Crack._

Teddie flicked his claw, sending the fetus crashing into a nearby wall.

"The truth is unattainable..." it said, and she recoiled. "Though you reach through the murk and the gloom to grasp something, you have no means to know it is the truth... In which case, why? Close your eyes."

"...Never."

_Shatter._

Time was brought to a halt around her. Naoto was frozen with her sights set on the monstrosity, and her friends were safe, if but briefly, but Teddie was unaffected, and continued to stare at her.

Igor's voice echoed in her mind. "The fool represents the start of a journey..."

Of course... Her Fool arcana, growing stronger.

Wasting no time, she leaped towards Teddie, twirling her naginata faster than she knew she could. Teddie humorously swiped a gigantic claw over her, and she dodged, ducked, raised her weapon, pierced his fur. Black sludge leaked from the wound, and she jumped back as time resumed its course. 

Teddie only laughed.

"Who are you?" Nanako demanded.

"Have you forgotten me entirely, Boss?"

"Don't give me that crap. You're nothing like Teddie!"

"Nothing? Hmhmhm... You might have stumbled upon an inkling of the truth you so eagerly seek with such a remark."

"Answer me, damn it!"

The fake diverted its eyes from Nanako.

"I have wondered, from the moment you arrived in this world, about the truth behind my existence," it eventually said. "Questions such as 'who am I?' and 'what am I?' plagued my mind, hindering my senses. I had thought that, through supporting your incursions into this world, I would eventually find the answer I sought. At your side, 'Teddie' would find his truth.

However... I only ever saw your back. You walked ahead and through the fog, and I could not follow. The only thing this 'companionship' provided was loneliness."

Nanako felt her stomach turn. Before she could even think back on her actions towards Teddie, her own voice began playing in her mind.

_'Oh, yeah. Kanji-kun, this is Teddie. He lives in the TV World. He's literally a walking, talking bear costume. I dunno, I don't get it either. I think it's best not to ask.'_

_'I'll be honest, I haven't really bothered to ask him too many questions. After the fifth 'I dunno' you kind of lose hope.'_

_'Teddie? Please. No, I can do this on my own.'_

As though sensing her thoughts—or perhaps having prompted them in the first place—the monstrosity's broken smirk widened slightly, cracking his face further.

"And so, I came to realize what I had known all along: that there was no answer, no truth, only certain inevitabilities. One is the fact that I hail from the fog, and thus shall one day return to it. Another...

...Your death."

Unexpectedly, the fake Teddie gripped the ground with both claws and raised his body from the ground. There was only a gigantic, crumbling plastic torso, and nothing underneath but his eyes, or so Nanako had thought. The darkness within his body, the same black sludge that had seeped from his wound, started to pour out, leaving the empty shell behind. The sludge formed an amorphous mass, not unlike the Shadows lurking in that very dungeon before taking on their battle forms. However, rather than assuming another shape, the sludge spread throughout the room, covering everything. For a brief, terrifying moment, Nanako was standing in pure darkness, unable to see even Naoto, who had been directly at her side. But she would wish to return to that darkness, when not a second later countless eyes opened on every surface, even beneath her feet and the empty carcass the monster had been inhabiting up until then.

The fake Teddie's voice echoed across the room:

"I am a Shadow, the true self..."

Nanako hesitated. What was that? _What was that?_ That was a Shadow? That thing, that monster, was a Shadow? How would they hurt it? How would they even—

"Nanako-san, watch out!"

When Nanako snapped out of her thoughts and looked around for what Naoto might have been trying to warn her against, it was too late. The eye on the ground directly in front of her was glowing, and above it was a sphere of dark, powerful energy. Nanako didn't need anyone to tell her that it was about to explode. She hefted her naginata in a weak attempt at defense, and her reward was being blown directly into the remaining door, which, too, was slammed off its hinges. Something resembling lava gathered at the epicenter, but the Shadow did not seem hurt in the slightest.

"Nanako-san!" Naoto yelled, having found cover beneath some rubble from the battle her friends must have waged.

Nanako, though relatively unhurt, gasped.

"Yosuke!"

She turned around and her fears were confirmed. The shape she thought she'd seen... Yosuke was knocked out underneath the first door, lying in his own blood. She then remembered Kanji had seemed to be awake when she'd arrived, and turned around to look for him too, only to find that he had passed out. When, she did not know. She had not bothered to notice. She...

She was a terrible friend.

The black sludge was starting to spread outside the room like tendrils, tiny eyes opening whenever possible and then converging into larger eyes as more of the corridor was covered. Nanako wondered whether the Shadow was spreading itself thin, and her instincts told her no. It was growing more powerful.

"We have to defeat it here," she said, unable to hide the desperation in her voice. "If it covers the whole dungeon, we won't stand a chance."

In response, Naoto aimed at one of the eyes and shot.

Jackpot. If she wasn't so scared, she might have been impressed. Nanako had tried some shooting once, under her father's supervision, and it was not that easy. The bullet hit an eye on the other side of the room dead in the middle.

But...

The eye twitched once, twice, and then the bullet was spit out and rolled uselessly along the ground.

"No effect, huh?" Naoto said dryly, then sighed. "I had a feeling guns would be less useful in this world."

"Yeah..." Nanako said, not at all confident in her naginata either. "Wait, look!"

The eye that had generated the first explosion was now glowing orange. In video games, that usually meant a weak spot, right? Nanako dashed as multiple eyes around her began to charge the dark energy, hoping to hell and back that Naoto was good at nonverbal communication because she sure didn't have breath to speak right now. As she stepped back into the room, she realized just how strange it was to be walking through black sludge and monstrous eyes—they moved under her feet, as though breathing, and seeped into her shoes with each step. She stared at the empty Teddie shell ahead, now part of a much larger abomination, and shuddered at the thought that the same could happen to her own body.

"Here goes nothing!" Nanako yelled as she dug her naginata into the faintly glowing eye. What a disgusting sound, she thought, like something being squeezed. The very next moment, a high-pitched scream filled the room, so loud that she felt her ears would burst, a feeling that was multiplied tenfold when she felt something liquid running down the side of her face. 

"Izanami!" she cried, and as the goddess held back the pain, Nanako looked down to see whether the attack had worked. The eye had disappeared entirely, exposing the floor underneath. That was good, but already the black tendrils moved in to cover the wounded spot...

What is this? she thought, eyes wide, trying to stop her hands from shaking. This is Teddie? This was inside Teddie? It was a Shadow, that much was clear, but Shadows were supposed to represent parts of you that you didn't want to acknowledge, secrets that you didn't want let out. Nanako pictured the cheerful bear, making his awful puns and always ready to help, and compared it to the monstrosity she was facing... They were irreconcilable. Worst of all, she hadn't seen the real Teddie anywhere in the room. 

If this is what he's been hiding inside, then maybe he was never cheerful at all.

When the scream finally died down, Nanako looked around the room for Naoto. The detective was on the defensive, never shooting, only running to dodge the explosions, except it turned out the eyes could only charge a limited number at a time, and seemed to prefer charging as close to their target as possible. Nanako watched the trail of energy following Naoto, only sometimes blowing up, always out of reach. Naoto herself looked tired, but otherwise unscathed. Nanako was surprised, but, come to think of it... When she'd blocked that surprise attack earlier, she wasn't too battered up either, was she? In fact, her only injuries were from slamming into the door. Certainly her poor blocking skills hadn't been responsible for that.

If they could be blocked so easily, then they must have some kind of different effect. That was video game logic, but they were in a video game dungeon.

"Sukuna-Hikona!" Naoto shouted suddenly. The tiny moth boy raised his sword and disappeared in a flash, leaving only a trail of white behind. Nanako followed this trail, and saw that the Persona was hitting each glowing eye in the path Naoto had walked. From her vantage point, she could see the sludge dispersing, leaving more and more of the floor exposed. 

Awesome! Doing one at a time would be impossible because the Shadow healed too fast, but when there's a trail... 

Naoto wouldn't be able to keep up her brilliant strategy for much longer, however. For all her smarts, she was really quite the opposite of athletic. Her face had gone red just from running around the room once. Nanako smirked. Finally something she could do.

Nanako closed her eyes and summoned Vetala to the forefront of her mind. Then, she bolted towards Naoto.

"Nanako-san," Naoto said through heavy breathing. Nanako sort of didn't hear her clearly; her ears were ringing. "I don't feel any heat from these explosions."

"Yeah," Nanako agreed, "They aren't fire, just... Pressure, I guess."

"As long as we block, at any rate."

"Oh, you figured it out too?"

Naoto nodded.

"We need to hit them all at once somehow," Nanako continued. "I don't have that kind of firepower, but I can make them line up for you!"

"I may have a way to hit them all," Naoto said, staring intently at her gun.

"I thought so, what with how your moth boy just owned me!"

They chuckled together, but when their eyes met, it was with determination.

"I don't have many bullets left," Naoto admitted. "This may be our only chance."

"We can do it. We've come this far, right?"

"I admire your confidence, Nanako-san," Naoto said, tipping her cap. 

In response, Nanako gave her a hug.

"Girls can be princes too," she said. "Let's show this Shadow who's boss."

Nanako raised her naginata and went with the age old strategy: 

"Hey, oil bomb, come and get me!"

Unsurprisingly, it did not work. _I guess he's not that dumb..._

Naoto seemed to be getting ready to do whatever she was going to do in the meantime, and Nanako decided not to interrupt her to ask for ideas on how to bait the monster. 

Well, she could just move down the list of dumb ones.

"Omoikane!" she called. The poor nerdy brain thing was absurdly unfit for that battle, much like most of her Personas. Nanako had felt strongly about it at the time, and was kinda proud of how well she'd done on her own, but her reason for not visiting the Velvet Room seemed so petty now. Yeah, so maybe bitchface arcana punched her, but what was a punch compared to the lives of her friends? The very lives she had put in danger with that suicidal solo mission...

Nanako shook her head, trying to get back to the matter at hand.

"Mazio!" she commanded, and the Persona sent thunderbolts flying in every direction; predictably, they didn't do much, but every eldritch eye in the room turned to her anyway. Success? To be honest, she'd kinda winged it when she was talking to Naoto, so apart from running around as the detective had done, she was not at all sure what to do next. Hopefully a good plan would present itself to her while she ran for her life.

It started. The eyes around Nanako began to charge their dark energy, which she took as her cue for bolting the heck away. When she did, she noticed right away that something was wrong. Rather than stopping the charge when she got far enough, the eyes morphed into mouths and ate them. Gross, and more than a little disturbing, but harmless... at first.

"I will show you truth!" the Shadow declared suddenly, and several eyes converged into a larger, multicolored one right beneath Nanako. Though it was big, she was fast enough to run outside its blast radius.

Or she would be, if it hadn't opened into a gaping mouth before she could even lift her feet.

"Shit!"

Nanako tried everything as she fell into the darkness. She tried gripping the pointy teeth on the slimy walls, but managed only to lacerate her hands. She tried to slow her fall with her naginata, and though, to its credit, it didn't break, turns out you kinda have to be super strong to pull that off. Finally, she tried a wind spell. That's when she saw the energy being charged below her.

"No fire," she muttered, "just pressure."

She aimed her wind spell there, assumed the best blocking stance she could in mid-air and with injured hands, and hoped for the best.

If the explosion was fire, she would have been immediately burned to a crisp. The pressure alone would be enough to tear her eyelids off, and it was, to the one she couldn't close fast enough. Her blocking stance was lost in the pain as she raised one hand to cover the exposed eye. The very next thing she felt was her back hitting a hard surface. The air went out of her all at once, along with some blood.

The plan, she thought hazily as a voice called her from far away, but she couldn't move, not completely; her hand grasped for a naginata that wasn't there. She must have dropped it... Her grip had been weak anyway.

The voice called her again. Why was it so distant? If only she could move.

When she dared open her uninjured eye, she realized she was upside down, high above the ground. With her eye bleeding, her ears ringing, her back pulsing in pain and most likely embedded to a pixelated ceiling and her only weapon not anywhere near her, adrenaline must have been the only thing keeping her lucid, but she was beginning to doubt even that, what with how the whole room seemed to be glowing. 

"...san..."

There it was again.

"...ako-san..."

Naoto?

"Nanako-san!"

"Naoto..." she said weakly. Then she snapped awake, and everything came together in her head. "Naoto! Forget about me. Do it now!"

Naoto, standing amidst the glowing eyes, seemed to hesitate for second, before nodding firmly and pointing her gun ahead. Nanako saw that Sukuna-Hikona hovered behind the detective.

Naoto fired.

The glow immediately started to subside as the bullet hit one, two, three eyes, and one more and then again. Nanako couldn't believe what she was seeing. A single bullet, ricocheting around the room. And what was that light following it closely behind? A trail? The bullet was leaving a trail?

Nanako's vision began to darken, the ringing in her ears increasing in intensity, but she heard Naoto one last time:

"Megidolaon!"

* * *

When she came to, Nanako was staring into the ominous but also somewhat comforting black and red vortex that was the sky in the TV World. She watched it move for a while, detached from her surroundings as her senses slowly returned, numb even to the intense pain she knew she must be feeling.

With that thought, she raised her right hand.

"...ma..."

It was not a pretty sight. Though the blood was gone, so was the skin from some areas, and it was badly swollen. ...Also every few seconds, her hand would glow faintly. Nanako blinked, wondering when her skin acquired such magical properties, but then she got distracted by the fact that she actually could blink now, and with both eyes, too. 

"...a... ma..."

Maybe someone was trying to heal her? Didn't seem to be working for the hands, though. Where was she, anyway? She wasn't upside down anymore, so probably not the ceiling. The fact that she was staring at the sky should have clued her in on that, she realized a few seconds too late for comfort. Anyway, the dungeon didn't have any windows that she could remember, so she was probably outside.

Yes, that seemed a safe bet.

"...aram..."

The silence was starting to break, as it often happens whenever we're enjoying it. There was a voice again, somewhere to her left. Nanako was made aware of an intense headache, and wished whoever was screaming stopped. It was rather painful to move, but she did wanted to tell them to shut up, so she turned left.

Pixelated rubble greeted her.

"...arama!"

No one? Where is this voice coming from?

"Diarama!"

Yosuke.

"Come on, wake up!"

"She has a pulse and is breathing steadily... Perhaps this is simply exhaustion."

Naoto.

"Well, whose fault is that anyway!?"

Chie.

"If only I could summon my Persona... But my head is pounding."

Yukiko.

"Don't blame yourself, senpai."

Kanji.

Despite their voices coming from the left, there was only rubble there, so... Nanako turned to her right.

Yosuke was kneeling beside her, head turned to the ground, summoning Jiraiya over and over again. Naoto and Chie, both up, were looking at him with a worried expression, while Kanji was helping Yukiko stay up by steadying her. Their clothes were battered and they were covered in dust and dry blood...

"Hey guys," Nanako said, her voice quite hoarse, "try looking at the patient while you perform surgery next time."

"Nanako!" Yosuke was practically in tears, but after a few seconds, he switched expressions to... Nanako tried to make sense of it. Was that a frown? Oh, was Yosuke glaring at her? She chucked weakly. Yosuke couldn't give a decent glare if his discount depended on it.

"Nanako-san..." Naoto said, her face displaying such relief that Nanako regretted ever worrying her.

The others said things too, but she... she couldn't hear them. She could see their mouths moving, but no voice. Maybe they were whispering, or maybe they weren't saying anything. 

Nanako was too tired to think about it, so she stared at Naoto instead. "Did the plan work?" she asked.

"What plan?" Naoto said with a slight smirk. "I only remember a pair of teenagers clearly in over their heads."

Nanako smiled in response.

"Yes, the plan did work. In fact, it might have worked too well... If such hyperboles are allowed, my head is going to explode any second now."

"Megidolaon, huh?" Nanako said. "Yukiko got a cool bonus for accepting her Shadow without fighting it too, so don't think you're special or anything."

Nanako looked around her. Rubble. Pixelated rubble, and the sky... She was still inside the dungeon, still in the boss room.

"Looks like you opened a secret passage," she joked. "How did I survive that, anyway?"

"Well, you got me," Naoto said, dusting off her cap. "By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."

"Wait, really?"

"No." The detective chuckled, but she was clearly torn. "You survived thanks to your friends' excellent sense of dramatic timing."

"I nabbed you when you were falling," Kanji summarized. "You were pretty beat up, though."

"I still am," Nanako admitted. "Everything hurts so much, I don't even know where to start describing it."

"Our spells seem to have a limit to their effectiveness," Yukiko said. She was carefully holding her own limp left arm up by the sleeve. 

_My fault..._

"Nanako," Chie butted in, "not to interrupt or anything, but, he still wants to talk to you."

"Who?" she asked, and her answer was the sound of some very familiar footsteps. Nanako raised her head in spite of the pain, her frown turning into a smile as she saw Teddie approaching.

"Boss," said the deep, distorted, unmistakable voice of a Shadow.

"You..."

A pair of bright yellow eyes, surrounded by void. An uncharacteristic blank expression. Everything else was the same as Teddie, but that was not him.

"Where is Teddie?" she demanded.

"You said you would never close your eyes," the Shadow said, ignoring her question. "Where does such resolve come from? What makes your relentless pursuit worth the pain it brings?"

Nanako answered with a question of her own, resolved to play twenty questions until the conversation was going the way she wanted it to. "You said you came from the fog and would one day return to it... What did you mean?"

"The fog is but a tool," the Shadow explained, "and no truths come from within."

"What, are you a lie, then?"

"In a sense. I fooled myself into thinking that there was something for me beyond the fog, but there is no such thing for a mere Shadow."

What?

"What are you saying?"

"I ask you once again," the Shadow went on, "what is so compelling about the truth, that you would seek it so strongly?"

Nanako hesitated. Why did she want the truth, anyway? She had the sense she was never really searching for it until the Shadow asked her not to. Was she just being contrary?

"Truth and justice..." she whispered weakly. Yes, that was why, or it would have been, before Mr. Morooka died. "I suppose you're right. The truth doesn't seem that great, and most of the time isn't even worth the trouble to find."

"Then why?" the Shadow pressed. There was a desperate quality to its... no, his voice.

"I guess because, in every truth there's a promise of something better. You don't always find it, but if you stop looking, then what do you have left?"

"And should you find it, and see that there is nothing left? What then?"

"There's more than one truth, Teddie. If you find one and it isn't what you expected, you can just move on to the next."

"Ah..." The Shadow smiled, yet his expression was far from content; in fact, looking at him made Nanako want to cry for some reason. "In that case, I shall leave you with one truth, so that you may move on to the next."

The Shadow then faded, leaving behind a cracked yellow mask. Naoto took it and gazed at it briefly before handing it to Nanako.

Yellow? No, more like a dull gold. It looked kinda like a ballroom mask, with a single horn protruding from the forehead and spreading into five points, like a star... And engraved at the center, the roman numerals XVII.

An arcana that she could have been linked to, but never bothered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three cheers to the co-author, herrDoktorat, who took the helm here and wrote the entire Shadow Teddie battle and its aftermath for me. You can thank him for your nightmares, ahaha...
> 
> Some explanation: The first crack was Nanako's Persona "breaking."  
> The second was an actual crack, the sound of Shadow Teddie's crumbling body.  
> And the three sequential ones are Nanako's perception of Kubo breaking, which in turn leveled her Fool Arcana.
> 
> Next Chapter: What Comes Next


	34. What Comes Next

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The DEATH Squad members make their escape from the TV World.

"What happened... to Teddie?" Yukiko asked hesitantly.

Nanako stared at the mask, turning it over in her hands. "He's gone," she whispered.

"Gone?" Yosuke repeated.

"Gone, dead, however you wanna say it," she said in a cold voice. She swallowed. "He..."

"He was a Shadow, wasn't he?" Kanji continued for her. "Hey, that's what it said!" he added when everyone looked at him. "We all heard it, right? But he wasn't anything like the Shadows we've been fightin'. Dude was always happy to see you, Senpai."

There wasn't judgment in his voice, but some measure of reproach. _Yeah,_ she thought, _and I ignored him and his problems for weeks on end. He tried his damnedest to impress me, and I hardly took the time to thank him._

_I never bothered to ask if he ate or drank or where he lived in the TV World. How he managed when the fog lifted and the Shadows grew violent. If he needed to sleep or not. What he did when he wasn't making new sets of glasses for us._

Teddie's loneliness had snowballed until he'd snapped. Those golden eyes... He'd developed his own doppelganger Shadow. A Shadow with a Shadow, did that make anything possible? And what, he hadn't been able to accept it? If she'd been there, could she have reassured him... made more promises to him that she'd inevitably break?

She blinked away her tears. She could cry about this later. "Wh-what happened here?" she asked her friends. 

Yosuke glanced at her from where he was inspecting Yukiko's arm. He'd run out of healing juice and was helping the girl immobilize it with strips of cloth torn from her sweater. They should relocate to the backlot, where the large medical kit was, but the thought of even walking that short distance was too much for Nanako at the moment. The pain had receded to a manageable level, but it flared up when she made even the smallest movement. Heck, even breathing was enough to keep a grimace on her face.

Yosuke ignored her and turned right back to Yukiko. Kanji seemed to be at a loss for words. Maybe no one would tell her, at this rate. 

Chie rubbed her face and then began to speak. Or, Nanako assumed she did. She couldn't hear a thing until she turned her head a different way. Apparently her right ear was clogged... It was the least of her worries at this point.

"—made it through this stupid dungeon. It wasn't easy," Chie said flatly.

Naoto's dungeon hadn't been easy, either, but Nanako knew the protest wouldn't be well-received. 

"We almost gave up halfway," she went on. "One of the floors was a bitch, but whatever, we can tell you about that later. We got here," – she indicated the arena, or what was left of it after Naoto's powerful spell had blown it to bits – "and that Kubo kid and his Shadow was here. He denied it right in front of us. It turned into a..."

"No need. I... saw it." Nanako suppressed a shudder at the memory since the motion would hurt too much. A fetus with soulless eyes. How difficult it must have been for her friends to fight such a grotesque thing.

"It kept leveling up," Chie said, "and getting stronger while we were fighting it. After a while, we realized we weren't winning, Nanako. It would regenerate its shield over time, and we just couldn't manage to break it down enough, and we were getting tired. It used bombs. They looked like stupid toy bombs, but they hurt and we couldn't get away from them in time."

Chie looked down at her feet now, scuffing her shoe against the ground. "...We yelled at Teddie. Because he wasn't being very helpful. And then one of the bombs exploded, and... The next thing we knew, Teddie was there, trying to protect us. I'm not really sure what happened."

"He joked about going 'bearzerk,'" Yukiko said. Her eyes were fixed on the red cloth wrapping her wounded arm, and she was toying with a stray string. Kanji stepped towards her and gently pushed her hand away to make her stop.

"He blew up," said Yosuke. "That's what it looked like, anyway. The bear's last stand." He lowered his head for a moment, blinking rapidly, and then lifted it again. "He survived it, and it destroyed the shield around Kubo's Shadow, but, well, that's all it did."

"And under that shield, Kubo's Shadow was..." said Chie. "W-well, not gonna lie, it was pretty disturbing."

"Horrifying," Yukiko murmured.

If it was horrible even to Yukiko... "You mean you couldn't see that it was in the shape of a fetus until then?" Nanako asked for clarification. She tried to imagine the scene and her brain rebelled. 

"And strong," Kanji said. "That bastard was even tougher without his damned shield. Hit Yukiko-senpai with ice right off the bat, and... No offense, Yosuke-senpai, but you ain't much for support compared to her. We were about to panic without her, but then behind us, Teddie, he was all flat, could hardly tell it was him, but he was arguing with his Shadow. Honestly, so much shit was happenin' that I didn't pay him much attention."

"You did get knocked into Chie by some wind," Yosuke pointed out. 

Chie rubbed a bruise on her arm as if in memory. "Teddie denied his Shadow and it... Kubo's Shadow had decided to rebuild its shield, but Teddie's Shadow... it..."

'I have a gift,' Teddie's Shadow had told her while holding the fetus up in its monstrous claws. 

"You don't... you don't have to tell me," Nanako said. "I think I know."

She stared off into the red and black sky, watched the vortex spin for a while, trying hard not to think about it. Teddie's desire to be helpful, culminating in his Shadow absolutely wrecking Kubo's... and then turning on the squad after that...

"Umm, speaking of Kubo," Chie said slowly.

Now what? Nanako could hardly lift her head to face the direction her friend was presently facing.

There he was. Fish-faced Mitsuo Kubo, hunched on the ground, somewhat battered, ha, there was blood on his face, good, he hadn't gotten out of this unscathed. But aside from her satisfaction about that, Nanako couldn't muster the energy even to glare at him.

His Shadow, wearing an identical orange T-shirt, stood meekly before him, as if it was reluctant to face the kid it originated from.

"I killed them all," Kubo said. "Why won't anyone believe me...?"

"Because you are nothing," the Shadow replied.

Kubo lurched to his feet. "Not just that bastard Morooka... That stupid announcer and the Konishi bastard, too! I killed all of them! It was me! ME!"

"It totally wasn't you," said Nanako from the ground. "You killed Morooka, yeah, but that's all you did, and all you'll ever do, you little shit."

"What do you know!?" Kubo growled. His fingers curled into fists, and he took on a fighting pose. "I did it all, and no one listened!"

"Kanji-kun," Naoto murmured. The detective was holding a rope. Nanako didn't know where she'd acquired it. "I may need your help in subduing him. We should secure him before he accepts his Shadow and earns a Persona."

Kubo's dark-rimmed eyes widened. "You!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Naoto. "It's your fault. You got all the attention, you bastard! And you didn't do anything!"

"I merely exposed your ridiculous and pathetic claims," Naoto said. "That you went so far for attention... You are a pitiable individual."

"I don't want pity!" he growled. 

Kubo's Shadow shook its head. "You want nothing... You feel nothing..."

"Sh-shut up!" 

Nanako took in her breath sharply. What would happen if he denied his Shadow a second time? If another monster formed, then...

"You are nothing," the Shadow whispered.

Kubo blinked at his Shadow. With a long sigh, the Shadow dissolved into black smoke that dissipated into the air. Kubo staggered forward as if pushed, and ended up collapsing to the rocky ground. He wasn't dead, because he began to chuckle to himself there. "Haha... I beat it..."

"Wh-what a creep," said Chie. "And he wanted to go out with Yukiko...? What are we going to do with him? We'll have to take him back with us, right?"

Leave him here, Nanako thought.

She sighed and immediately regretted the action as her body protested. Naoto glanced at her before turning to the task of tying the unresisting Kubo's hands behind his back. He didn't seem dangerous at the moment, but looks were deceiving, weren't they? He'd killed Morooka.

"We should find out how he managed to get in here," Yukiko said. "Yosuke-kun said he wasn't even on the Midnight Channel."

"That's right!" said Chie. "Kubo!" She moved in front of the boy and opened her mouth to speak, but Naoto behind him shook her head.

"That's unnecessary," the detective announced. "The culprit did not evade my systems. There should be footage of him in my apartment, and all should be according to plan."

"...Plan?" Chie repeated. 

"Plan...?" Yukiko followed. Kanji shifted, and Yosuke's scowl deepened.

"Ah, yes," said Naoto hesitantly. She caught Nanako's eyes. Nanako nodded, and she continued. "The police had become desperate to pin the serial murders on Kubo, so with Nanako-san's help, I devised a plan to flush the true culprit out by being on TV and becoming a target for kidnapping myself."

"What the hell is wrong with you, Nanako!?" Chie screeched. "Was this that 'plan' you had to see through? And you didn't tell us? You made us watch the news... I know you're miserable over Mr. Morooka's death, so I was okay with you being distant with us, but this is kind of important!" 

Nanako said nothing, because she didn't have any sort of excuse to diffuse this situation.

"C-come on, Yosuke," said Chie, turning to the floppy-haired boy. "Back me up! You can't believe this either, I know it!"

"Honestly, I don't expect any better from Nanako anymore," Yosuke replied. "But you," – he looked at Naoto – "I expected better from you. I don't care what Nanako promised you, but making yourself a target is unbelievably irresponsible... Did she even tell you how dangerous this place is?"

"She promised to rescue me should anything happen," Naoto said, regarding him coldly. "And she did. Though I do admit that accepting my Shadow was far more difficult than I had imagined, despite our preparations."

"Wait wait wait... You broke the rules?" Chie was staring at Nanako, open-mouthed. "You were so keen on making them! And you told someone about this place without telling us? We're supposed to be a team, aren't we? Did you even think about consulting us? Were you ever going to tell us?"

"In her defense," Naoto said, "I did not give Nanako-san much choice in the matter. I was quite suspicious of her involvement in the case once Kanji-kun was kidnapped, which pressed her into demonstrating her TV-entering powers for me." 

"I was there when that happened," Kanji added. "He didn't give Senpai much choice, and I think she made the right call."

Naoto sighed. "Nanako-san offered to introduce me to you all, but I insisted only to work with her and Kanji-kun. I admit... I'm not the most sociable citizen. I understand that this world is a secret, and we may have started off on the wrong foot, Satonaka-san, but we have the same goal here, so I hope we can get along from here on out."

"That's not the issue!" Chie growled. "It's Nanako! Do you think we're not important or something? We could have helped you with your stupid plan, but you just told us not to worry about this guy being on the Midnight Channel. Why'd you leave us out, Nanako?"

"Honestly?" said Nanako. "Because I knew you'd react poorly, and I thought that together Shirogane-san and I were smart enough to pull this off without him ending up kidnapped at all. So I was wrong, okay? And now you guys know."

"Yeah, we know what you think of us," Chie spat. "You look down on us, like you did Teddie!" 

Nanako's eyes widened, and Chie put a hand over her mouth in surprise at her own words.

"I, I didn't mean that," Chie amended.

Yukiko looked down, and Yosuke shuffled his feet, because the truth was that it wasn't just Nanako. They'd all kind of looked down on Teddie. 

It killed the conversation dead, anyway, and after several long moments of silence, Yosuke glanced around at everyone. "Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say it's about time we get the hell out of here."

Kanji pulled Kubo to his feet and pushed him towards the nearest hole in the wall. Outside, the blocky trees that lined the path to this dungeon could be seen. Naoto followed him, and then Chie began to head after them with Yukiko.

Nanako laughed weakly. "Guys," she called out after them. "I can't fucking move."

Yosuke paused in his tracks, his concern for her battling with his exasperation with her. To his credit, it didn't take long for the concern to win out. He knelt by her side. "Really?" he asked.

"I sleep on rubble every day," she joked. "Yes, really. I got an item in my pocket that might help. Give it to Yukiko, will you? I think we could use one last group heal."

He hesitated for a moment before ruffling around the pleated folds of her long skirt, trying to find the pocket. He pulled out the item she'd received earlier from hitting one of the blocky trees. Soon Yukiko's beautiful red-clad Persona was refreshing them all. It wasn't as effective as Nanako had hoped: she still couldn't manage the strength to pull herself up. Wordlessly, Yosuke held out his hand and helped her onto her feet, but with a piteous whimper, she crashed into him and they both ended up on the ground. 

"Nanako," he said, pulling himself into a sitting position.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "I guess I can't stand up."

Yosuke stared at her for a long moment. "You can lean on me," he finally suggested, "like Kanji did when we got him out of here."

It would hurt too much to shake her head, so she just told him, "No," right out. 

She called for Kanji to come over, and after taking in the situation, the large boy gently picked her up and began to carry her in his arms. "Senpai," he said, looking down at her, worried. 

She had to look so small and fragile to him in this position, cradled in his arms. "It's all right," she assured him. "Pretty sure I'm just bruised all over. Let's get on out of here."

At least the backlot wasn't far away. The fog there seemed thicker somehow, and for a moment, Nanako almost panicked, but Teddie's exit TV was still present. It was, perhaps, his legacy to them. They gathered around it like a beacon, everyone looking grim. She wouldn't begin to guess what they were thinking.

Yosuke volunteered to go out first and check that no one was around in the electronics section. Their escape from the TV World would have to be carefully orchestrated. They couldn't be caught by anyone in their current condition. It would raise too many unanswerable questions.

Several minutes of suspenseful silence passed before they finally heard Yosuke's all-clear from the other side of the exit TV. It took some maneuvering for Kanji to fit Nanako through, but he managed it, and then they could hear the welcome (for once) sound of Junes's theme music.

"It's still early enough in the morning," Yosuke remarked in a low voice, "so there aren't too many employees around yet. We should be careful, though... huh?"

He trailed off because the wail of sirens in the distance began to grow louder. He told everyone to stay there and scampered down towards the stairs. 

"Oh, shit," said Kanji. His body tensed; Nanako could feel it in the way he shifted her in his arms. He looked around, and then walked over to a display shelf holding various electronic cables and proceeded to stand behind it. He hunched down as if he was trying to hide, difficult to do since he was so tall.

"What? What's going on?" Nanako asked him.

"You didn't hear that?" he whispered. "Someone shouted 'finally' after hearing the sirens. Seems we ain't alone in here... There're some employees in the next department over, or somethin'."

"I only heard the sirens," she admitted. Her ear... she still couldn't hear out of it.

"Seems like someone called the damned cops before we got out of there," Kanji went on. "Uh, no offense, detective."

"None taken," said Naoto, who had joined them behind the display. "Although I'm working with the police, I am not a part of the association. And it's an unfortunate situation we're in... The police will want an explanation, and I don't see an easy one." She rubbed her temple. It was possible that she was still feeling a headache from that powerful spell she'd pulled off earlier. It would interfere with her ability to think quickly.

Yosuke ran up to them, almost out of breath. "You guys," he panted. "Do you remember how you got in here? The path you took." Yukiko nodded, so he went on quickly. "Go out that way, all of you. Leave Kubo here with me. I've got a plan."

"I'll remain here as well, then," Naoto began, but Yosuke was shaking his head.

"No, there's no time," he said. "Go, I need you all out of here. The police are being let in through the front entrance, so you guys gotta use the side door _now._ "

Chie took a few steps in the direction that led to the stairs, then glanced back at everyone. Nanako nodded, and then clutched at Kanji's shirt for support as he ran after the others down to the staff entrance, hoping beyond hope that no one had decided to go there in the intervening time. They were in luck—apparently the staff were at the front entrance, opening the store up for the police. 

It was lightly drizzling outside, but they hardly acknowledged the rain. They didn't slow until they were a few blocks away from Junes, where they took a minute or two to catch their breaths. 

"N-now what?" Chie muttered.

"Naoto," said Kanji. "You can double back to Junes. I know you wanna be there to see what happens with that Kubo dude."

"Perhaps. But first, Nanako-san needs to go to the hospital," Naoto replied. "Amagi-san should get her arm looked at as well. As for an explanation for these injuries..."

"I fell off the bridge," Nanako said, "and Kanji-kun found me." Kanji looked down at her in his arms, doubt apparent on his face. "It'll work, trust me." She raised her hand despite the pain to brush her fingers against his cheek in a reassuring way.

Chie and Yukiko exchanged glances. "Well," Chie said. "I could say I was training with Yukiko and she got hurt. It's, umm, happened before."

"Perfect," said Nanako, closing her eyes. God, she was exhausted. But poor Kanji had it worse. His arms had to be aching from holding her for so long. 

Closing her eyes had been a mistake, however, because her consciousness faded even as she fought to keep it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how to say this, but updates are gonna slow down from here on out. I've been writing this almost nonstop for several months, and I need a break. I have stuff written up through approximately chapter 40, but I'd like to have the entire 'summer break' arc completed before I start posting any more of it. Right now it's all a bit disorganized and unpolished, and I simply need more time to pull it all together to make it the best it can be. The next chapter will probably be out sometime next month.
> 
> With that said, if you have any concerns or complaints or suggestions or anything you want me to address in future chapters, now would be a very good time for you to speak up!
> 
> Next Chapter: Sterilized


	35. Sterilized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako awakens and has some visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: some disturbing imagery in the opening scene.

Floating in a void of darkness. It seemed peaceful... until thousands of tiny eyes opened up around her. They rolled in their sockets to stare directly at her. She shuddered as their unblinking gazes bore into her, making her feel more exposed than if she had been naked before them.

She took a step forward but stopped with her foot still upraised because something was there. She turned her head down and saw that it was a fetus.

'Everyone has a different role in this farce that we call life, Dojima.'

The fetus began to wail at her, waving its stubby limbs at her. Shut up, she told it, but it continued to cry defiantly louder and louder. 

'You kids are all starry eyed and naive.'

The countless eyes half-closed. Her ears began to ring in protest as the cry's pitch reached a painful level. 

'You have a bright future ahead of you.'

She put her foot down with force, crushing the unborn child and shutting it up permanently.

* * *

Nanako opened her eyes to a pristine white ceiling. The blankets clung to her... She was sweating. With an involuntary shudder, tears blurred her vision, and she tried to wipe them away but couldn't manage to lift her damn arms, leading her to weep further in helplessness.

"Nanako-san!" a familiar voice called to her. She felt a hand grab her wrist and rub the back of her hand. "It's all right. You're in the hospital. You have no serious injuries... Please calm down."

"Sh-Shirogane," she whimpered, unable to see the detective at all through the haze of tears. "I can't fucking move... Hurts too much..."

"I didn't say you were uninjured," Naoto murmured in reply. "Perhaps your dosage of painkillers will have to be increased if you find it intolerable." 

Nanako let the tears fall from her eyes, and after over a minute of blinking, she was able to clear her eyes enough to take in the room, for what that was worth. She was in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV drip. The room was small and private, although there was a green curtain bunched up by the head of the bed, probably to divide the room in case another occupant needed to be housed here.

"I feel like a truck ran over me," she replied candidly. She frowned, because her own voice sounded muffled to her own ears. No, single ear. She still could only hear from one ear. The doctors might not have detected that injury.

"You have no serious injuries," Naoto repeated. "I suppose the healing capabilities of your friends' Personas are to thank for that. It's caused some confusion among the hospital staff. By rights, a fall from the Samegawa bridge should leave you with more than the heavy bruising you've received."

"They aren't buying my story?" she asked.

"I suggest you stick to it, regardless, as it is the simplest explanation, although it paints you as irresponsible for going outside in the middle of the night and in the middle of a storm."

"No one expects any better from me, now," Nanako said, wanting to sigh but physically unable to manage it. "The police won't come to question me, will they?"

The detective shook her head. "We seem to be in the clear. Hanamura-san was able to convince the police that he'd found the Junes's staffroom door broken when he came in for work this morning and discovered Kubo inside as a trespasser and ended up in a scuffle with him. It's worked out well enough. Hanamura-san's father supports him, reporting that he was scheduled for the early morning shift even though in truth he wasn't. And Kubo hasn't been coherent enough to throw suspicion on the claim." 

Naoto paused for a moment, and then continued. "As for myself, I spent most of the day in the police station. I told the authorities that the serial killer kidnapped me and that I was captured along with Kubo. I claimed that Kubo escaped, and that the culprit had gone to recapture him, allowing me to enact my own escape. They questioned me repeatedly for details on where I had been taken, but then I described the preparations we had made and informed them that my laptop in the apartment would have collected some data. The police are likely scouring my apartment now for further clues to the kidnapper's identity."

"And looking up your laptop's browser history," Nanako joked with a weak little snicker. 

"I can't say that they won't try such underhanded tactics, but I know how to hide my tracks," Naoto said with a smile of her own. "I'm told that our cameras indeed recorded the moment of my capture. I... was unwilling to watch the footage." 

The young detective was no longer smiling. "It's all right, I understand," Nanako said. She tried to move her hand to pat Naoto's in a comforting way, but couldn't manage to move them. She noticed now that her hands were bandaged and shivered at the memory of those teeth she'd cut them on. 

The detective noticed her whimper of pain and ended up patting her on the arm instead. Nanako wanted to laugh, but her eyes teared up instead and it took a moment for her to blink them away.

Naoto turned her head suddenly, and Nanako stared at her, wondering why, until she noticed that someone was standing by the open doorway. She couldn't hear it, but it seemed that the detective was listening intently to a conversation going on just outside the room.

Moments later, Aunt Seta walked into the room, little Souji clutching the woman's hand and looking apprehensive—until he saw his big sis on the bed. He broke away and began to run up to her, but paused halfway to look up at his mother for permission. Aunt Seta nodded and seconds later the boy was at her side.

Nanako struggled to turn in the bed, fighting the protests of all of her bruises to face her cousin and give him a hug. He put his arms around her neck hesitantly, and she managed to get her own arm around him and rub his back with a bandaged hand as reassuringly as she could.

"B-big sis... are you... are you... okay...?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yes," she gasped. "I'll be fine, just need some rest, Sou-chan. I'll be home soon. Be strong, okay?"

"Y-yeah," he murmured.

He didn't want to let her go, which was adorable, but soon the pain became just too much. She bore it as long as she could and then broke away to collapse back onto the bed. She caught Naoto wincing in sympathy and hoped Souji hadn't caught any sign that she was in pain.

"Ah, Nanako-chan," said Aunt Seta, standing by the bed. "I was called at work and told you were in the hospital. They tell me you fell off a bridge! I came as soon as I could... Are you able to speak? Are you all right? They allowed you to have visitors, but..."

"Yeah," Nanako replied. "I'm told I'll be okay."

"What happened last night that made you leave so suddenly?" Aunt Seta asked. "Souji noticed you were missing early this morning. You'd left your door open. You didn't leave a note, and I wasn't sure what to do."

Nanako didn't answer immediately. Souji's gray eyes, large with concern, were staring at her. She didn't want to worry him further, but at the same time, he didn't need to be sheltered. 

Aunt Seta had followed her gaze. She pressed her fingers into the boy's back and began to steer him towards the door. "Wait outside for us, all right, darling?"

"N-no," Nanako protested. "I'll tell you, but Souji-kun should hear this, too. Let him stay, please."

Aunt Seta paused, her head tilted, considering. "Well, all right."

Nanako waited for them to gather around her bed. "First," she said, "Aunt Seta, are you familiar with Shirogane-san?"

When her family had arrived, Naoto had stepped into the background to give them the stage, but she was still present in the corner of the room. Aunt Seta glanced at the detective briefly. "Yes, we have met, actually. The last time you went missing. I appreciate that he is concerned for you enough to visit you so soon."

"Yes, well," said Nanako, "you should know that he was kidnapped last night—"

"Kidnapped?" Aunt Seta's eyes widened.

"Yes, kidnapped," Nanako continued, "right from his own apartment, and that's what made me leave the house in the middle of the night, even in the pouring rain. We'd suspected Shirogane-san might be targeted, and set up all sorts of systems to leave a trail that could be followed. I'll admit I panicked when it actually happened, so I wasn't thinking straight. I even left my umbrella at home when I went out... When I got to the Samegawa Bridge, the storm picked up, and the wind was strong, and somehow I got knocked into the railing and fell over the side."

Aunt Seta pulled her son close to her. His eyes were even bigger now as he looked at Nanako. "Big sis... you fell into the river?"

"That's right, Sou-chan... It's a good thing I know how to swim, eh?" She smiled without much humor. "It's hard to swim in a skirt, though. I don't recommend it. I guess I managed to pull myself out of the river, but now I'm here, so..." 

"It could have been so much worse," Aunt Seta murmured. 

"Yes," said Nanako. "I know."

"And you." Aunt Seta looked at Naoto. "It can't have been easy for you, either, Detective... You're all right?" 

"I-indeed," Naoto replied with a short nod. "Thank you for asking, ma'am."

The woman's shoulders slumped in relief, then she looked at Nanako. "Well, I spoke with a doctor, and she informed me that it may be several days before you will feel well enough to leave the hospital. You are on some heavy painkillers." She smiled almost playfully. "I was surprised that you're conscious, let alone coherent."

"I haven't been conscious for long, actually," Nanako admitted, "and I won't be conscious for much longer. I can feel it already."

"In that case," Aunt Seta said, "there is something we should discuss in private. Shirogane-kun, would you mind taking my son outside?"

"Of course," Naoto said swiftly. 

"Souji, go with the nice detective." Aunt Seta pushed the boy forward. Souji held his hand out towards Naoto, who stared at it for a moment before taking it with a small smile, and then the two left the room hand in hand.

"A-Auntie?" Nanako asked when they were gone.

Aunt Seta sighed. "Nanako-chan... Ryotaro warned me about this, when he was here the last time, that you might, in his words, try to 'butt in' on the investigation."

Her dad knew her well, that was for sure. Nanako was glad he'd warned her aunt, but supposed it hadn't done much. Aunt Seta was simply too busy to watch over her all the time. Her father probably hadn't expected her to go this far, either...

"Right now I'm just glad that you are alive," Aunt Seta continued. "Do you realize what could have happened to you?"

"…Yes," Nanako said in a small voice.

"Then I won't lecture you. I have a feeling authority doesn't mean very much to you. Your father was the same way."

Nanako blinked and wondered if she was going to hear an anecdote. 

But Aunt Seta just sighed again. "We should probably have this conversation when you're feeling better. I do wonder what your father is going to think about this. What can I tell him so that he won't worry?" The woman rubbed her temple, and her voice had a desperate tone when she added, "I really don't know."

Yeah... so much for his exhortation to 'Stay out of trouble.' "I'm sorry," Nanako whispered. Impelled as she'd been, she hadn't even thought of Aunt Seta and the rest of her family, nor what her actions meant to them.

The woman shook her head. "I don't think it's me you need to apologize to, child, although I am supposed to be your guardian here, and as such I am responsible for you... I understand that it's thrilling to help a detective, and that you've become friends with young Shirogane-kun, but after this I hope that you realize you might be in over your head. You're always doing that, trying to take on the world's problems as your own. Have you noticed?"

Nanako frowned. "If I don't do it, who will?"

"The world tends to manage on its own well enough," Aunt Seta said. "Most of the time, that is..." The woman looked sad and vulnerable all of a sudden... She blinked several times, and then went on. "I just worry that it will become too much for you at some point. You've already almost broken down... Please think about it while you're resting here, all right?" 

Though she lowered her gaze to the blankets covering her, Nanako didn't reply.

"With that said," Aunt Seta continued, "I won't try to stop you. I know a futile endeavor when I see one. But, do promise me that you'll be careful. I don't think Souji could handle another loss in his life... and neither could I, to be perfectly honest."

"Yeah," Nanako croaked, barely managing to meet the woman's eyes. 

Aunt Seta smiled faintly at her. "Good. I think that is all I wanted to discuss... We'll let you get some rest. I'll bring Souji back in to say goodbye. You'd like that, yes?" Her smile was larger now as she turned towards the door.

"W-wait!" Nanako called. "Umm..."

The woman turned back towards her. "Yes?"

"Shirogane-san... his apartment is now a crime scene. He doesn't have a place to stay. He could get a room at a hotel or something, but... he was kidnapped, and he doesn't really want to be alone. He would never think to ask you, but... could he stay with us? At your house?"

Aunt Seta's expression turned into a thoughtful one.

"He is a professional," Nanako added quickly. "I trust him with my life. And..."

Aunt Seta had drawn an arm over her stomach and her shoulders were heaving. It took Nanako a moment to realize she was holding in her laughter. "And you still want to elope with him," Aunt Seta finished for her. "Yes, Ryotaro told me about that!" 

"Th-that was a joke!" Nanako squeaked.

"Of course." The woman's eyes danced with amusement. "Well, would he mind watching over Souji while you're here...?"

"He and Souji-kun already get along!" Nanako reported. "Shirogane-san is even a big fan of Featherman. I'm sure he'd be delighted."

"I will speak with him about it, then," Aunt Seta promised.

Nanako relaxed on the bed. Then she sat up again, which she regretted immediately due to the pain that shot through her back. "Ahh!" she gasped. "O-one more thing... D-do you know where my cell phone is? I think... I think I should call Dad."

"Ah. I think it's here." She moved to the table by the bed and held something up. By the cracked screen, Nanako knew it was her phone. Since her hands were bandaged up, she had her aunt place it before her on the bed. She'd be able to work it since the tips of her fingers were still free, but holding it would be a bit much. She would have to set it to speaker mode when she called. 

When Aunt Seta opened the door to the hallway, Nanako caught a glimpse of Naoto and Souji playing some sort of clapping game, which made her dearly wish she could pick up her phone to take a picture. She couldn't hear them speak, but a few moments later, Souji came into the room and walked up to her. Nanako held out her hand and he took it.

His fingers played over her bandages with curiosity. "Big sis... get better soon..." 

"Yeah," she whispered. "Sou-chan... I'm sorry."

"S-sorry...?" 

"I wanted to play with you all day today..."

He beamed up at her. "S-summer just started, so... there are other days..."

The urge to hug him was too great, but god, the pain...! She ended up bending towards him just just enough to plant a kiss on his forehead before collapsing back onto the bed. "I promise," she told him, and this, she knew, was a promise she could keep.

Aunt Seta returned with Naoto at her side, and after a final round of goodbyes, Nanako was alone in the room once again. Although she was beginning to feel fatigued, possibly from the painkillers but more likely simply from exhaustion, she poked at her phone.

But instead of calling her father, she called her mother.

* * *

The next time Nanako awoke, the doctors performed a bunch of inscrutable tests on her. One of the nurses undid the bandages to her hands, cleaned her still-healing wounds out with some sort of stinging solution, and then wrapped them up again with fresh bandages. 

"Are they... gonna scar up?" Nanako asked.

The nurse didn't say no, but informed her the impact could be reduced with repeated applications of an aloe solution over the coming months. Nanako held in a sigh. Seeing the scars would be a daily reminder of her mistakes.

But according to the doctors, she was recovering at a reasonable clip. The decision to leave the hospital would ultimately be hers. When she was feeling well enough to walk around, she'd be well enough to return home.

In the meantime, she slept a lot. Whatever painkillers she was on kept her mostly sedated, which was just as well, because being conscious when no one was around was infinitely boring. Her phone had died right after she'd called her mom. The next time Naoto visited she'd ask her to bring the charger from her room at the Seta residence. 

She wondered how Naoto was doing, if Aunt Seta had indeed allowed her to stay at her home. Was the detective staying in her room while she was away, or sharing Souji's room? Probably the second. It'd be a scandal if a 'boy' was staying in her room, right? Oh, man, when her dad found out... it was gonna be grand.

She was daydreaming about how the hell a conversation with her dad would go when she noticed some shapes in the open doorway, a tall one and a shorter one. A nurse came in and told her that she had visitors. Did she want to see them? "Heck yeah!" Nanako declared.

It was Kanji and Saki. She blinked at them, hardly expecting they'd come together.

"Senpai," Kanji greeted, waving a hand.

Saki strode right up to the bed and gave Nanako a hug against it. She smelled sweet, like lilac, and Nanako couldn't resist planting a kiss on her cheek before she pulled away. "I'm okay, I promise," she murmured.

"I tried visiting yesterday," Saki said, "but they told me it was family only."

Family only? Then how did Naoto... Nanako began to snicker, thinking it'd be funny if Naoto had pretended they were engaged or something. Of course the detective hadn't, she hadn't a clue that Nanako had been thinking that way about her, but it was an amusing thought nonetheless. "Should've told 'em I was your boyfriend. That makes you family, right?"

Saki play-hit Nanako's arm. Nanako did her best to mask her reflexive wince. The older girl hadn't intended it to hurt, she knew, but...

"Oh," Kanji muttered from the back of the room.

Nanako waved him forward. "What's the matter, Kanji-kun? Don't mind us."

"Nothing," he said. "Jus'... things clicking."

"Heh heh. Yeah."

"You gonna be out soon, Senpai?" Kanji asked. "Wanted to bring you a get well card, but... now that school's out, it's hard to, you know, meet with everyone without you to get 'em to sign it. 'Sides, Yukiko-senpai, her arm's still hurt, so she might not be able to write at all."

"That's sweet of you, anyway, Kanji-kun. Though you have their phone numbers," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I called," he said. "Yosuke-senpai just said he was workin', and Chie-senpai wasn't answering at all. And Naoto's been real busy, haven't wanted to bother 'im."

Saki's face warped into a frown. "Hana-chan's been working? But he took the whole week off. Something about that Kubo guy hurting him."

Now Kanji was frowning, too. "'S what he said, but you're right, senpai. He got knocked around a bit, yeah. Don't think he'd be workin' at all after that."

Nanako lowered her gaze to the bedsheets. "I really screwed things up, didn't I?" she muttered. After blinking a few times, she looked up at Kanji. "Please don't ask anything of Yosuke on my behalf. Please."

Kanji glanced at Saki briefly before saying, "Had a feeling you and Yosuke-senpai had a falling out. He wasn't all that happy when we left you to, err, pick up Naoto the other day."

"He was probably on his period," Saki said with a wicked grin.

Under normal circumstances, Nanako would've laughed at Saki's joke—especially since it was at Yosuke's expense—but right now she was too dispirited over the situation between her friends to appreciate it. Part of her was seriously dreading getting out of the hospital because she would have to form a meeting with them all, and they'd have to talk about, well, everything. How she'd been so impelled to achieve her goals that she'd ultimately failed them all. 

"Wait, Amagi's arm was hurt?" Saki's frown returned. "And Hana-chan's hurt, and Nanako's hurt from... what? And Kanji-kun, you've got a big bandage on your forehead and another on your forearm right there..."

"S-sewing accident!" Kanji defended quickly.

Before he could flinch away, Saki was inspecting his arm. "The hell you'd managed to do that much damage with just a needle? Look, don't try to tell me it was a big one." She let him go and glanced at Nanako, but by the look on her face, she wasn't really seeing her—she was thinking. "Kubo... Kubo killed Mr. Morooka. It's all over the news, and that detective boy said so in that show, and you were working with him, weren't you? You told me so yourself."

Saki glanced back at the boy in the room. "Kanji-kun, what was that you said about Nanako picking up Naoto? And Nanako, what did you 'screw up' exactly? You fell off a bridge on the same night that our tall, dark, and scraggly Hana-chan managed to take down a known murderer inside Junes? And then Amagi hurt her arm. Kanji's all beaten up too... I know all of you hang out together. I've seen you. What are you guys doing...? Literally fighting the serial murderer or something? I can't imagine how all this is happening."

Nanako looked at her for a few moments with her mouth set in a grim line. "I screwed up in that we all almost died."

"Senpai," Kanji began, but Nanako shook her head.

"Saki-senpai, I'm supposed to be the leader." Nanako paused, then snorted. "Heh, actually, I made myself the leader. No one chose me. You know me. But no one would call me level-headed. Like, you know, a leader should be." She leaned back against her pillow with a sigh. "I wanted Kubo so, so badly..."

"The police issued a press release about what happened at Junes," Saki said. "That detective Shirogane said that both he and Kubo had been kidnapped. You went after them. You led everyone on the rescue, is that what you're saying?"

"Yeah," said Nanako. "I rushed it. I rushed it, forced everyone else to rush it, and everyone got hurt. We're just damned lucky that no one... d-died..."

Except Teddie had died, and... who would guide them in the TV World now, who would cheer them on in battle, who would warn them when they looked like they could use a break...?

Sensing her emotion, Saki put her hand in Nanako's, though with the bandages, she couldn't squeeze as much as she might have wanted to.

"I know you want to ask," Nanako murmured. "About how we got hurt. It wasn't fisticuffs with the murderer, if that's what you're thinking. It's... more complicated than that. Look, have you heard of the Midnight Channel?"

"Yeah, I tuned in to it a couple of times," Saki replied. "After my brother died, people were saying they'd seen him on it right before it happened. So I had to check it out. My TV turned on, just like the rumor said, but I never saw anything on it."

"The people who appear on it end up targeted by the murderer. We don't know how it works or why. It just does. Are you okay with that?"

"Someone said that it still turns on even when their TV is unplugged," Saki said, "though I never tried it myself. So, yeah."

"With that in mind, if I told you that there's more to this world than we know, would you believe me?" Nanako looked directly into Saki's eyes and held her gaze.

"Yeah?" Saki hazarded, her eyebrows knitting together somewhat in uncertainty.

"There's another world," Nanako went, "that only some people can go into. We call it the TV World. When people are kidnapped, they're put into that place, and we have to go in and rescue them. It's not a nice place. It's dangerous. It's..."

She went on to explain as well as she could. At least she had practice after telling Naoto all about it.

"I know it's hard to believe," Nanako finished, "but—"

"No, I believe you," Saki interrupted.

"What?"

"I said I believe you."

"...What?" Nanako repeated. 

"I know you, Nanako. You wouldn't joke about something like this. You barely ever joke."

Nanako blinked at her. "W-well, I used to joke to myself about putting Shirogane-san in there myself just because I wanted him on the team so much," she confessed. "I was so freaking excited when he came up with his plan to trap the murderer by being on the Midnight Channel himself! At the best, we'd catch the killer! At the worst, we'd have to rescue Shirogane-san from the TV World. No problem, we rescued everyone else just fine! And then he'd be on the DEATH Squad!" Nanako laughed bitterly. "I'm such an idiot."

"Y-you're not an idiot," Saki began, but Nanako cut her off. 

"No, I totally am an idiot. Kubo ended up in there, too, and I went after him without any sort of preparation. I was going to break my own rules and try to go in there after him all by myself! I would have tried it, too, and I would've died. Either to the Shadows on the way or Kubo's Shadow itself. I would've died... if it hadn't been for Yosuke braving that damned storm on his bike to come after me and try to stop me! He's the one who made the others come with, called them all up and begged them to come though it was the middle of the night, and you know what, I almost didn't wait for them!"

"You were pretty, uh, driven, Senpai..." Kanji remarked in a low voice. "I wasn't sure what to do. When you told us you were gonna go alone after Naoto, try and save him yourself while the rest of us went after that Kubo kid... Well, I don't think Yosuke-senpai was wrong to worry about you. It made him an absolute dick to fight with in there, though, and to be blunt, Chie-senpai wasn't much better. They were bitchin' at each other the whole way through. Every time I got between them it was like stereo."

"We didn't have to split up like that," Nanako muttered. "Hell, we shouldn't've. But I... I wasn't thinking straight at all. Driven, yeah, that's a good word for it. Because I couldn't go with you after Kubo. I'd have killed him."

"Killed him?" Kanji repeated. "Sounds extreme, Senpai, but I can see why you'd want to. Dunno if I could see you actually doing that, though..."

"I could," said Saki without a pause. "It's kind of frightening. Nanako is... She's run by her heart. And if you think about it, what's in a person's heart isn't always beautiful."

Nanako held her lower lip in her teeth. Her heart, huh? It was pretty ugly, wasn't it? And it wasn't going to get less ugly anytime soon.

"But," Saki went on, "even though I miss Naoki every day, I've never really wished his killer dead. If the murderer was tied up and helpless before me right now, I... I wouldn't know what to do. I don't wish much of anything towards him, except that he not kill anyone else."

"That's probably for the best," Nanako murmured. Saki didn't want to feel like she did, that's for sure.

"But Nanako," Saki said gently, "don't beat yourself up over this. There are other passions in your heart, too. You love your little cousin, and you love his little friends, too. And your other friends... They might be upset with you over what happened, but despite all that, you're still worried about them, aren't you? You're going to take it upon yourself to make it up to them. I can tell."

Nanako sighed. "Souji-kun and I were gonna do something for Chie's birthday. I'm not sure if I'll be out by then, though..." Or if Chie will even want me to, at this point. 

"Even if you don't, you can have a party with the kid, anyway," Kanji told her. He was grinning. "Maybe just an 'I'm out of the hospital' thing. I think the little guy would love that." 

"We can totally do that!" Saki exclaimed. 

While Saki and Kanji began to make plans, Nanako beamed up at them almost shyly, her mood improving by the second. That they cared about her and Souji too... maybe it added a new passion in her heart.

* * *

"I wanted to show you these," Yukiko said. She was sitting in the chair next to Nanako's hospital bed, and she began to rummage through her purse, a medium-sized bag with a pink flower pattern. Apparently her purse wasn't nearly as organized as her school notebooks had been, for it took some time for her to find what she was looking for. 

When her fingers apparently clasped it, she paused and told Nanako emphatically not to look. Then she realized her friend would look anyway and turned her body away while she took the object out. 

Yukiko bowed her head, and when she turned back, Nanako nearly jumped out of the bed in surprise. The girl was now wearing novelty glasses complete with a bulbous orange nose, black mustache, and spiral-patterned lenses. 

Then Nanako began to giggle, and Yukiko followed suit, and it took them over a minute to calm down again.

Yukiko took the glasses off and wiped her eyes. "I f-found them when I was shopping with Chie, and they were just too f-funny!"

"Thanks, I needed a good laugh," Nanako said, grinning at her even though her sides were totally protesting now that no, she didn't. "Speaking of Chie..." She sighed. "I was gonna try to get everyone together for her birthday, but I dunno if I'll be out of here by Saturday. I was gonna make a meatloaf cake and a normal cake."

"Oh!" said Yukiko. "I was thinking of planning something, too! I was wondering if I could get everyone to wear kung fu uniforms. It would be... s-so funny!" She began to titter again.

Nanako stared at her, because she'd had the same idea and had dismissed it as too silly. 

"J-just imagine Yosuke-kun crossing his arms in the uniform," Yukiko gasped. "He'll complain but secretly be enjoying himself."

"And Kanji-kun," Nanako contributed. "He'll end up with a uniform meant for a shorter person, so his ankles will show."

"Yes," Yukiko replied fervently. "And I'll wear a red uniform, because Chie likes me in red."

Nanako vaguely recalled Yukiko's dungeon. Hadn't there been an announcement from Yukiko's Shadow about the color red...? "The castle was pretty red, now that you mention it," she murmured. "Like a rose."

"I, ah, didn't really mention it," said Yukiko, "but you're right. The decor in that place is fiery, to say the least."

"That leopard-print carpeting, mrowr!"

Yukiko blushed, nowhere near as red as her cardigan but just as noticeable. She cleared her throat. "Did you have a chance to look around the game dungeon when you went through it?"

"The dungeon kinda made a shortcut," Nanako admitted, "so Shirogane-san and I only had one floor to go through."

"Normally I enjoy creepy ambiances," Yukiko said. "My favorite event at Culture Festival last year was the haunted house. But that dungeon... it was a bit much. But that could have also been caused by the tension between us all as we went through it."

Nanako suppressed a pang of guilt. "You guys haven't seen Shirogane-san's dungeon. It was lifted right from Featherman. It was funny, at least until I ran into some Shadows. I approached the dungeon like it was going to be a stealth mission, but honestly, it was more like a survival horror. Whenever I was spotted by a group of Shadows, you could almost hear the violins as I ran in terror, not daring to look behind my back to see them gaining on me...!"

Yukiko was leaning forward eagerly. "And then what happened?"

She went on to describe how the crowned beetles were surprisingly fast and tenacious. There was a lull in the conversation as they contemplated their numerous close calls.

"You know," Yukiko began, "when Yosuke-kun called us up that night, we were both upset. Although Chie takes being woken up worse than I do... I've learned to deal with that at the inn. But all things said, I thought the timing was nice."

"The timing...?"

Yukiko nodded. "After midnight. It was very dramatic. Especially with the rain."

"Yeah, that storm helped set the mood, didn't it?" 

"Very much so..." Yukiko was quiet for a moment. Then she moved closer in her seat to the bed. "I... I never gave Teddie much thought. He never left much of an impression on me. He tried to be funny, but... I think we all wish we'd been kinder to him."

"Yeah," Nanako whispered.

Yukiko put her hand on the bed. "But we can try to learn from our mistakes, Nanako. And, well... we should also celebrate that we put Mitsuo Kubo behind bars again, where he won't be able to hurt anyone. Just like Mr. Morooka would have wanted."

Nanako found her voice to lodge a protest. "You don't know that. Maybe what Mr. Morooka really would've wanted was to give him a big fat rant about abstinence and nocturnal emissions."

Yukiko stared at her for a moment, then Nanako grinned. Yukiko's shoulders rolled, and the laughter that overcame her almost made her fall out of her chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! It's been a while, huh? We've decided we'll go to a once-a-month update schedule. We'll update on the first Thursday of every month. I think that's an update schedule we can safely keep up with. If we end up writing more, we'll speed it up, but for now, that's how it's going to be! I've written up through 8/25 or so, in case anyone was curious!
> 
> I want to thank everyone who's commented and left Kudos! If I haven't replied, it's probably because I really wanted to but I don't want to spoil anything! We have /so much/ coming up, I hope you all look forward to it! This is basically the start of Part 2 of the story.
> 
> (Please notice who has visited Nanako--and who hasn't!)


	36. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako continues to recover in the hospital.

Nanako was feeling marginally better the next day. The next day... It was another day, wasn't it? Her room didn't have a window nor did it have a clock, so it was kind of hard to tell. She slept a lot, too, since there wasn't anything else to do. She'd been given a magazine, but it was meant for housewives. It didn't even have one small article about keeping it fresh in the bedroom. How useless.

The nurses tried to get her to attempt to walk, but she couldn't get out of the bed without help, and when she got to her feet, she nearly collapsed from the effort. Her legs hurt, her back hurt, her body hurt. The nurse kindly directed her into a wheelchair, and she was at least able to see a little more of the hospital. She liked being out of the bed and out of the room. It made her feel like there was more to the world than it.

She asked the nurse to get her a drink and tried to see if she had the strength to wheel herself around while she was away. The answer was, 'sort of.' Not very far before she had to rest from the effort, at least. When the nurse returned, Nanako asked her to wheel her back to big window in the hallway outside her room and just leave her alone for a bit. 

The view wasn't anything amazing: it was a small grass lawn with one small tree in it. She was grateful for the view, anyway—if this was a hospital in Tokyo, outside would probably be an alleyway if not just another wing of the hospital. That tree didn't know how lucky it was.

"Hey Senpai! Good to see you up an' about."

Nanako turned her head to see Kanji heading towards her. Her eyes widened when she saw that Souji was perched up on the teen's shoulder, looking for all the world like he was having the time of his life.

"Big sis!" the little boy squealed. "L-let me down, p-please, Kanji-san...?"

After setting down the basket he'd been carrying, Kanji put his arm around the boy's waist and – "Alley-oop! Down we go!" – settled him safely on the floor.

Souji thanked him and then ran headlong to hug Nanako's legs. Nanako bent down and pulled him up into her lap for a real hug, biting her tongue when his weight on her bruises caused her to wince. 

"I miss you..." Souji murmured against her chest.

"Missed you too, honey." Nanako pushed her nose against his hair and nuzzled him. "When I get out of here, I am so making up for lost time with you." She looked up at Kanji. "But what's Sou-chan doing with you?"

"Oh," said Kanji. "Well, yesterday Naoto was watchin' him, but he had to go to the police station today, so he asked me to do it, and... yeah."

Nanako sighed. Aunt Seta didn't waste any time, did she...?

"It was awkward at first, man," Kanji went on. "The kid kept staring at me. Think he could stare down a chargin' rhino."

"Or a triceratops," Nanako murmured. 

"Then I asked him about the little fox, and he showed it to me, and..."

Souji shuffled around in her lap, and a moment later Foxie was in his hands and giving Nanako a kiss. She kissed the plush back and then kissed her little cousin's temple, too. 

"Big sis," Souji said. "Kanji-san said he's going to sh-show me how to make a friend for Foxie..."

"Is that what the basket's for?" Nanako asked. "I see some yarn in there!"

"Yeah!" said Kanji, standing proud. "I'm gonna teach both of you to crochet."

Nanako glanced down at her bandaged hands. "Uh, I'm not sure if I'm well enough to—err." Kanji's eyes seemed to be bulging out at her, and his eyebrows were bunched together tighter than usual, and his lips were drawn. "Uh, that's a pretty good glare, Kanji-kun. Who taught you that?"

"Ma," he replied, still subjecting her to it. 

"Right. Well, uh, hand me a crochet needle, and let's get started!" 

The hallway was lined with chairs interspersed with the occasional small table. Kanji spread out his crafts upon the nearest table, and Souji climbed into the chair right next to it, watching him curiously. Kanji started off by demonstrating how to hold the crochet needle. Nanako found it too difficult to hold it like a pencil, so he showed her an alternate way. He then showed them how to make a slipknot in the yarn.

"The chain stitch is like, the basic part of crochet," Kanji explained, "so we're just gonna do that today 'til you get real good at it. I know, you wanna make something cool right now, but you gotta walk before you can run, right? Get the basics down and you'll be makin' cool stuff in no time. I promise, alright?" He looked at them for confirmation. Nanako didn't really respond—more important to her than learning a craft was spending time with her cousin—but Souji nodded solemnly at him.

He set them both to work, Souji with red yarn and Nanako with yellow, watching them and guiding them through the first several stitches before he was sure they had the hang of it. While they continued working, he began to work on his own project, something with a lot of blue, white, and red. 

"Umm..." Souji murmured at some point. "H...help..." 

Kanji set his own project to the side to take a look at what was going on in Souji's hands. From her seat in the wheelchair, Nanako couldn't really see what the problem was, but it didn't matter because a few moments later Kanji was leaning back and Souji's small smile of determination had returned. Possibly he'd got the needle stuck in the yarn and needed some help extracting it.

Nanako's heart wasn't really into working on this crochet project. Crafts weren't her thing... but seeing Souji so intent on his own made her turn back to hers with renewed purpose. 

At one point, she shifted in her wheelchair because she was getting a cramp and the ball of yarn in her lap decided to make a run for it. It fell down onto the floor, unraveling as it went on its adventure. She swore softly and tugged at the string in her left hand, but that only made the ball unravel further until Kanji put his foot out and stopped it. 

He didn't say anything, just gave her an amused look as he rolled it up and handed it back to her, and she rolled her eyes at him. 

When Kanji stepped away, she noticed a golden hue over his skin and clothes. She glanced out the window—holy cow, the sun was already setting? But they'd only just started! She hadn't been having that much fun, had she?

"It's easy to get lost in the work, yeah?" Kanji remarked. "All right, Souji, that's probably enough for now. Put the yarn down—yeah, now can you show me how you're supposed to hold it again? Make one last chain stitch for me."

The boy obediently followed his instructions. He held up his work high above his head. "Look at my chain, big sis...!"

It was twice as long as the one Nanako had made. They had a nice little laugh when they compared. "Yeah, my fingers aren't cooperating too much," she said. "But I bet Kanji-kun is real proud of you!"

"That's right, little guy," Kanji said, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Next time we'll work on single stitches, okay?"

Souji nodded up at his newest friend.

"What have you been working on all this time, Kanji-kun?" Nanako asked. 

Kanji shifted his weight. "Well, this. I actually finished it." He handed her the small crocheted figure.

Nanako swallowed. Oh.

It was a round figure, with a red and white striped bottom, a blue head, and big black eyes. A miniature facsimile of Teddie.

"Who's that?" Souji asked while Nanako stared at it in her hands. "It looks... cute..."

It took Nanako a long moment to find her voice. "This?" she croaked. "He's... Let me tell you a story, honey." 

She took a deep breath.

"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a very brave, lonely little bear who tried to protect a world much larger than he was."

From the corner of her eyes, she saw that Kanji's posture had gone stiff, but she didn't stop.

"Though he had lots and lots and lots and lots of brothers, the little bear couldn't talk to any of them!" 

Souji made a sad face. He probably imagined that having brothers and sisters meant you always had someone to talk to... Well, Nanako wouldn't know any better, being a single child herself. 

"Because you see, though some had very large eyes," she continued, "and others had very large tongues, none of them could see or talk. They felt nothing, they thought nothing, and they did nothing but roam aimlessly through their foggy world, day after day."

"T-that sounds sad..." Souji interjected.

"Yes," Nanako agreed, "and the little bear was like that too, at first, until one day..." 

Until one day, what? Nanako didn't know, she had never asked Teddie about it, and didn't pay attention the few times he'd talked about it. But the story had to continue, right? 

"Well, one day, someone new arrived in his world! The little bear was very confused, and also a little bit worried. There was a single day where everyone would get so very upset. The day the fog that covered his world lifted, they would claw and roar and hurt anything around them! Not the little bear, though. He never wanted to hurt anyone, and it was so very scary to see his brothers so angry. Instead of getting angry himself, the little bear used his head! Mmm, what did the little bear do?"

"H-hide..." Souji whispered. 

Nanako smiled at him. "Very good! The little bear didn't have large claws or pointy teeth. Really, he was not m-much of a bear at all, but he was cute as a button, much like a certain someone I know." She winked, if only to try and hide the tears that were forming. "Yes, what the little bear did was hide, hide, hide, hide until the fog came back."

"W-what about... the new someone?" Souji asked with a cute little frown. 

Yeah, Nanako had kinda forgotten where she was going with the story for a second there. "That's the problem! Did the new someone know all the good hiding spots? Of course not. Vowing to be brave, the little bear decided to show them, and so he began his search. That world was his home, but..." But suddenly everything seemed so different, she remembered him saying. "There were new places, and he couldn't find the old ones anymore. What could he do?"

Nanako sniffed and sniffed again, to clue Souji on what he had to say—or so she told herself.

"S-smell...!" Souji said quickly, and Nanako nodded.

"Though his claws were short and his teeth were round, the little bear had one thing to be proud of: his nose, or as he liked to call it, his sniffer! Though scared, the little bear d-did..."

_Sniff._

_Sniff._

_Sniff._

"...until he found a big, scary building, and voices coming from inside, the first he ever heard apart from his own. But as the little bear went up the stairs, he noticed the place getting brighter, like his eyes were suddenly clearing up!"

"The fog!" Nanako and Souji said in unison, though his tone was more startled than hers. "Yes, the fog had lifted, the voices turned to screams, and when he got there, there was no one inside."

Kanji looked at her with a worried expression. That might give him nightmares, huh? B-better tone it down.

"This happened again once more. New people, new places, and then no one.  
That is, until a special someone arrived."

Nanako had to repress a bitter laugh. Yeah, she was special all right...

"There was no new place with this new someone. The little bear was very suspicious! But he also wondered, would he fail, like the last time, and the time before that? No matter how hard he worked, he never did anything right. That was the first time he thought such an awful thing, but it wouldn't be the last.

Turns out the special someone came from another world to find out what was happening, though it wasn't easy for the little bear to find that out, because when he got close the first time, she ran the heck away, into a very, very dangerous place. 

The little bear didn't fail then, he got the special someone out in time, saved her from his brothers and got her back to her world. But you know what's sad?"

"W-what?" asked the bewildered little boy.

"That was the only time she ever said thank you."

"Did... did she forget to, later?"

"Kinda, but she also kinda though the little bear was kinda useless. As she started to explore his world, she started to feel she knew it better than him, and why wouldn't she, when every new someone came with a new place he knew nothing about?"

"B-but that's mean... the little bear was t-trying hard, too."

"Yes, he was... but even though she never said thanks again, he kept helping her, kept thinking she was special, because she promised to save his world, and he knew she could. To save his world, they had to fight his brothers, and the little bear couldn't do that. He could do other things, but not that."

"Mama says that... everyone can do something different..."

I wish she'd told me, too, Nanako thought.

"One dark, gloomy night," she said, "many new someones and many new places appeared. The new someones were in danger, and the special someone wanted to save them fast, too fast for the little bear, too fast for even her own friends. By that point, the little bear was so very lonely again. Though he met others with voices, he couldn't talk to them, either, because they walked ahead of him, not by his side. What am I? he wondered. Why don't I get angry, like my brothers do? Why can I talk? There was no one to give him the answers for him, and no one that cared enough to help him search for them himself."

Nanako was breathing hard, but she wanted to finish the story, _needed_ to.

"Th-the special someone and her friends were in big trouble. His brothers were too strong, his help was too little. The little bear was scared, and so very lonely, but he wanted to help, he wanted to help so much, he wanted to help more than he was scared, he wanted to help more than he was lonely, and in thinking like this, he found true courage, and power welled inside him. The brave little bear charged at his angry brother, to protect his world and everyone in it." 

She paused, not intending to be dramatic, but because the truth was so painful.

"But he failed," she finished, "leaving behind only a small gift."

"N-no..." Souji looked downhearted.

"I'm sorry, Souji-kun. this story doesn't have a happy ending... This is a story about a very brave, lonely little bear who tried to protect a world much larger than he was. Even though he always gave his best, he failed at everything he ever tried. In the end, he turned his loneliness into his power and tried one last time to connect to other people also trying to protect his world. And although he failed at that too, d-dying in the process, he left behind something they could use to continue their fight. H-his name was T-Teddie, and he was the b-bravest little b-bear there ever was."

Nanako let her tears flow now, and held out her arms for a hug. Souji crawled into her lap, and he was crying, too. And Kanji, she heard him blow his nose on the sleeve of the jacket he carried about his shoulders. 

They were still wiping their runny noses when Aunt Seta arrived to pick up her son. She didn't seemed fazed by Kanji's presence at all, and Nanako wondered if she was just unflappable—Nanako recalled that she hadn't commented on her long skirt getup, after all—or if they'd met before. After exchanging pleasantries and asking how Nanako was recovering, Aunt Seta called her son to her side. The boy gave both Nanako and Kanji one last hug before taking his mom's hand.

"Did you have fun?" she asked him.

"Y-yes, Mama," the boy replied, looking up at her with a smile. His mother smiled back, and the two headed down the hall together.

Nanako looked askance at Kanji, who was staring sort of forlornly after the boy. "Uh, you can go now," she said. "A nurse'll probably come by soon and put me back in bed."

"I can wheel you in, at least," he offered. "If you want. But Senpai... I didn't expect any of that. I mean, I made this guy because..." – he picked up the crocheted Teddie doll – "Well... We can't forget him."

"Yeah," Nanako replied softly. She sighed. "I hope I didn't give Souji-kun nightmares."

"He's prolly had worse," Kanji mumbled. 

Nanako lowered her gaze, because he might be right, at that.

She allowed Kanji to wheel her into her room. He set her right next to the bed in her rather lonely room. Still he hesitated to leave her. In fact, he rummaged in the crafts basket and brought out a plastic bag with the Yomenaido Bookstore's logo on it.

"I got this for you a while back," he said, handing her the bag.

"You bought me a book?" she asked, uneasiness stealing over her. Was he trying to get back at her for all that bara she'd sent his way? Normally she'd more than welcome it, but what if those nosy nurses found out? Then again, such things were supposed to be healthy for a teenager, weren't they?

"To thank you for the stuff you sent me... y'know..." he answered, fidgeting. Damn it, that was a bingo, but she didn't want to be right this time!

Nanako was not the type to turn down a gift, though, so she took the book out anyway. When she did...

_Sun._

When she did, she remembered the books her mother would read her at bedtime, and how, after Nanako'd found some raunchy books in the storeroom, her mom went and started to read them to her, albeit in a very light tone.

The book reminded her of all that, but it wasn't raunchy at all, unless pink alligators were the next big kink.

"This is one of my favorite books," he admitted. "Might help."

Nanako smiled. Yeah, of course he wouldn't bring porn to the hospital... Kanji was the sweetest, really.

"Thank you, Kanji-kun. I promise to give it a read tomorrow. Right now my meds are starting to kick in."

"No problem. Rest well, Senpai."

Holding the book in her hands after he left, she took a moment to consider that even though the room had no windows and the lights were off, it seemed brighter than when she'd left it earlier in the afternoon.

* * *

She could walk! 

It was the first thing Nanako requested the next time she awoke—that the nurse help her to her feet and see if she could stand on her own. And then she took a tentative first step.

She could walk, but only bent forward like an old crone with a bad back. Because that's what she had, really: a bad back, or at least a very sore one. When the nurse helped her change into the clothes that Aunt Seta brought for her—a short skirt and a loose-fitting blouse—she saw how black and blue her belly, sides, and back were from still-healing bruises. Some of the bruises had gotten to that unsightly yellow stage.

Worse, though, were her fingers. The cuts, now healed, had left numerous scars along the bottom side of each digit and the palms of her hands. She'd have to use that aloe solution daily, and even then, they might never completely recover.

The nurse led her to the lobby, where her aunt was waiting for her, carrying a white bag that likely contained her prescriptions. "Nanako-chan!" the woman greeted. "Finally. Let's get you home." The woman nodded at the nurse and headed towards the automatic doors that led out of the hospital.

Nanako paused before following her. Where was Souji? she wondered. Shouldn't he be here to see her released? He'd be overjoyed. Heck, she'd be overjoyed!

But no, it was a Saturday, right? Aunt Seta had probably left him at the daycare.

With her mouth set in a grimace, partially from pain and partially from that thought, she followed Aunt Seta to the car and laboriously put on the seatbelt, though her aunt just kind of looked at her funny for wearing it. 

During the drive, Aunt Seta told her about the long line at the pharmacy, but Nanako barely listened. She was looking out the window, watching Inaba's scenery roll by. The sky was mostly cloudy, but the sun was beginning to shine through.

She sighed. It was still the same old Inaba, but... She pulled the Star arcana mask out of the bookstore bag and stared down at it. Yeah, it was like the whole town had lost its innocence.

She turned back to the clouds outside the car's window. "Auntie...?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we stop by at the gas station? I've missed a few days of work there, you know, gotta let 'em know I'm alive and well. I was going to call but my phone kinda died. Should let them know it could be a while before I'll be well enough to return to work, too."

"You could call them on the house phone," the woman pointed out, "but it has been a while since I got gas for the car. We might as well stop by."

It wasn't far, and soon Nanako went through the toil of taking her seatbelt off and getting out of the car. She only emitted a few hisses. Her legs felt stiff, like she was a really old cat just waking from a nap. 

There didn't seem to be an attendant on duty, to her aunt's annoyance, so Nanako volunteered to go inside and let the manager know. She told him about how she'd been in the hospital, and he seemed fairly sympathetic, since her cover story for coming here was at least partly true. Although she tended to work only when she felt like it, it was still a nice idea to give the old man some notice in case he wanted to hire another part-timer to cover for her.

When she returned outside, she spied her real reason in stopping by. She poked the shoulder of the uniformed man pumping gas into Aunt Seta's car, and when he turned around, she hugged him.

"…?" Izaya verbalized, taken by complete surprise.

She sniffled and pulled away. He smelled like mildew. "I... I need to talk to you. But not now."

"I'll be waiting," he replied.

She looked around for her aunt, wondering if she'd seen that, but the woman was walking around the far side of the car with a phone to her ear. Some things never change, she realized with a sigh.

The rest of the ride home was endured in silence. She didn't have anything to say to her aunt, and her aunt didn't seem to have anything to say to her. Maybe she'd noticed Nanako's twisted visage and decided not to talk. She needed to take some of those painkillers soon. 

A cat ran away from the carport when they pulled up. Nanako envied its ability to move so fast. She exited the car and picked up the crafts basket that Kanji had left with her. 

"I'll get the door," her aunt said when she climbed up the stoop. She waited with disguised impatience, thinking only of her pain meds and her futon.

It was dark in the house. Nanako sighed. Her aunt should've at least remembered to leave the kitchen light on! She put her basket on the counter, and while she was reaching for the light switch, she heard sounds of movement and whispers, and she paused with a frown, then shrugged and turned it on.

She stared at the sight that greeted her in the living room. Saki was on the couch, Souji in her lap, Naoto at the tea table, her back to the sliding glass door that led to the back yard, Kanji to her left and Yukiko to her right. 

"Uh, surprise?" Kanji tried.

Souji blew a party horn, and Saki threw a handful of glittery confetti at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nanako already forgot about the party that Kanji and Saki had been planning for her, hehe. And I swear that I had the idea of Kanji teaching Souji to crochet before I learned about the scene in PQ where Kanji teaches Ken. *heavy sigh* But would Ken make a crochet pterodactyl? That's the real question!
> 
> Anyway, here's a progress report: I've finished writing all of the summer break events, so I'd say the writing is going well! I promise I've written at least one scene with Rise in it, for those who've been asking :3  
> Currently working on the Tatsumi Port Island trip.
> 
> I forgot to mention it, but the Teddie story that Nanako told was written by the coauthor, herrdoktorat!
> 
> By the way, I started writing this story August 10, 2014, so it's almost a year old. Already?! T-time flies, doesn't it?  
> Here's to... another year...?
> 
> Next Chapter:  
> Nanako's body hurts so much that even taking a bath with little Souji is a monumental task.


	37. Bed, Bath, and Beyond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako wakes up at home, confused and bruised.

It was a dream, wasn't it? She was still in the hospital, wasn't she?

It had been a nice dream. Nanako wished it was real. Saki had thrown glitter on her, and it had made her sneeze, and she'd hugged Souji and gotten him all glittery, too. Then she'd found the package of confetti on the table and thrown the rest of its contents onto Saki, who pushed her and made her fall onto the tea table, right on her back.

She'd laughed up at all her friends around her: Saki, and Kanji, and Yukiko, and Naoto...

And although Yukiko was laughing at her for looking like a disco ball, the girl's humor seemed somewhat forced, like there was something outside of the party on her mind.

Nanako hadn't had a chance to worry about it because her aunt had arrived with some water and her pain meds.

Then Aika had arrived with delivery and informed her that Aiya delivers to the hospital.

She'd gotten a little indignant, then. "What, you expect me to go back there?"

Aika's mouth had just twitched. "Leave the bowls. Enjoy your meal."

And then Nanako had eaten five pot stickers, hardly tasting them, and when everyone else was done, they'd colored dinosaurs with Souji.

It was the best party ever.

But... Yosuke hadn't been there, and neither had Chie.

She sighed in the bed and noticed the faint light trickling through the window.

Wait, window? Her room at the hospital didn't have a window. She heard an electric fan, and that hadn't been at the hospital either. Home? She was home? Then... had that party been real?

She sat up and realized, after wincing from the pain that shot through her, that yes, she was in her own futon. She was in her room... and she wasn't alone. Camped out on blankets on the floor was Naoto, wearing plaid sweat pants and a very loose-fitting shirt. And cuddling up next to her was Souji, wearing, uh, nothing but a pair of white briefs on his head.

Heh, it must have been some party!

Well, his clothes weren't far away. He might've taken them off because it was rather hot in the room with three bodies in it.

She definitely needed a picture of this! She reached down to her phone, which was on the floor connected to a charger, but reached too far and fell out of the futon with a heavy thud that woke Naoto.

"Mm, good morning, Nanako-san," Naoto greeted, stifling a yawn. She didn't sit up. So close to her, Souji was sleeping on part of her oversized shirt, so she was stuck on the floor for the moment.

"Stay right there," Nanako whispered, picking up her phone. "And... there!" The phone made a snapshot sound as it took a picture.

"You can't blackmail me..." Naoto murmured.

"Me? Blackmail?" Nanako pretended to act offended. "Never!"

Naoto chuckled lightly so as not to wake the boy. After a moment, she said quietly, "Living here has been very interesting, to say the least. I was surprised when your aunt asked me to stay over. The offer was too kind for me to refuse. Though I must admit I was unsure about him." She turned her gaze down to the boy sleeping against her chest.

"What's there to be unsure about?" Nanako asked. "Souji-kun is very well-behaved. Sometimes I think he's too good to be true."

"I have very little experience with children, as you might expect. But yes, he is..." The detective began to brush her fingers through the boy's hair, at least the hair that wasn't covered by underwear. "I... Your aunt set me up in his room with a sleeping bag. But when we settled down to sleep, I found that I couldn't. My mind whirled with everything that had happened that day. My tossing and turning must have kept him awake as well, because he whispered at me."

"Yes?" Nanako asked with poorly-disguised eagerness.

"He said, 'Don't worry. I'm here, too.' Well, in his own way, but yes. And he held his hand out to me, and then he gave me a stuffed toy."

Nanako could easily guess it was a little orange fox.

"…And then he wouldn't let go of my hand," Naoto finished. "Somehow, even though my hand was in an odd position, I was able to get to sleep."

"I'm so glad at least something worked out." Nanako sighed. The image of that was a great one to remember. 

"And the next night," Naoto continued, "I had gone to bed before him and fallen asleep on my own without problems, but I woke up from a nightmare. I cried out in a panic, and then he got out of his futon to comfort me. I... I was embarrassed at first, but then he pulled his blankets down to sleep next to me. I told him that he didn't need to, but he said that he'd done this before with his 'big sis.'"

"During Golden Week, I camped out in his room with him," Nanako confirmed.

"Your aunt should be very proud of him. Although he's a quiet child, he's very smart. He pays close attention to what everyone around him is saying, and is always trying to learn. I was speaking with his mother, for example, before she left for work one morning, and after she was gone, he asked me about a word I had used in the conversation since he had never heard it before."

"They say children are like sponges. I get worried when he watches TV sometimes."

Naoto nodded, though the action was hard to notice since she was on the floor. "I think you are right to be worried in that regard. But he's very conscientious—he won't turn on the TV on his own, and I believe it's because he doesn't want to disturb anyone. He never once interrupted me when I was working on my paperwork downstairs. Even though I might have welcomed a distraction at times."

The detective was now smiling fondly at the boy. Nanako wished she could take another picture without ruining the moment.

The smile faded. "I apologize for pawning him onto Kanji-kun. I had to make a trip to the police station, and although Souji-kun insisted that he could watch the house on his own, it didn't sit well with me, so I called up Kanji-kun to watch him. He was happy to take on the task. I think he felt restless while you were in the hospital."

"Don't feel bad about that," Nanako told her. "I've been wanting him and Kanji-kun to become friends!"

"Well, I'm glad you approve." Naoto sighed. "That is also why I didn't manage to visit you again. I had several interviews and interrogations to endure at the station. They, too, now suspect that an officer is the true culprit."

Nanako wondered how an internal investigation would proceed. If anyone working at the station could be the culprit, outside forces would have to be brought in, right?

"And Kubo. He's been sent to a mental institution. Before you ask, I do not know the location."

"I wasn't going to ask," Nanako replied.

Naoto stared at her, but she stared back evenly, feeling at peace with that tidbit of news. At least for the moment.

There was a soft sigh and then Souji was sitting up. He blinked at Naoto and soon spied his cousin. "Big sis!" he cried.

She opened her arms for a hug and he crawled right into them. "Good morning, Lieutenant," she said, pulling the underwear off his head. Now his gray hair was disheveled. She tried not to laugh at it.

Souji huddled close to her. "M-missed you..."

Nanako kissed his head, watching Naoto sit up from the corner of her eye. "Well, Nanako-san," Naoto said after a moment. "It's your first true day home again. Is there anything you need? I can make breakfast for us."

"You know what I really need?" Nanako said. "A bath! They only gave me sponge baths at the hospital, and I feel kind of grotty, to be honest, and heck, I still smell like hospital. What about you, Sou-chan? Do you need a bath too? You're already naked!"

Souji giggled. "I am...!"

"Ah, yes," said Naoto. "I can assist you into the bath. That's not a problem."

Nanako narrowed her eyes while she thought for a moment. "Would you like to join us in the bath?" she asked. "It might be tight, but there should be enough room for all of us."

Naoto bit her lower lip and looked down.

"You don't have to," Nanako began, but her friend was now shaking her head with a wry smile.

"I have already bathed with Souji-kun," the detective admitted.

"Bwah?" Nanako blinked rapidly. "H-huh... so Souji-kun knows...?"

"It's quite all right," Naoto said. "We had an enlightening discussion about it."

"A girl can be a p-prince, too," Souji murmured. "Naoto-san said... that you said that, big sis."

"That's right, Sou-chan!" Nanako declared. "And a boy can be a princess if he wants! Just like Yuuta-kun shouldn't be afraid of his favorite color."

"Yuu-kun would look good in p-pink..."

"Oh? I thought you always said that it wasn't pink, it was Loveline," she teased.

Souji fidgeted. "I thought pink was for girls..." he said, frowning slightly and avoiding eye contact. "Because... everyone said so. But that's d-dumb."

"That's the spirit!" Nanako pulled him into a hug.

"And I c-can't... make fun of Yuu-kun... because of his favorite color..." he said against her chest, "so I should like it too."

"Does that mean your favorite color is now pink?" Nanako asked playfully.

To that, his answer was a distinctly mischievous smile she had never before seen on his face.

It was...

It was...

It was adorable!

Now he was foxy like Foxie!

"B-big sis..." Souji whimpered.

"Mm?" she mumbled, still daydreaming.

"C-can't breathe..."

"Oh!" Nanako let him go. Ugh, her bruises were protesting too, as a matter of fact, but she hadn't even noticed. Was that from the fabled cuteness overload? She'd just m-missed him so, so much, and was so glad that Naoto had been there for him that she went and pulled the detective into a hug, too.

* * *

Nanako thought Naoto had been joking about assisting her into the bath, but it turned out she would probably really need the help. Simply taking off her blouse was a chore. It felt like her back was on fire, and she couldn't grip anything with her scarred hands. Even bending down to take off her lacy unmentionables (really just striped black and white panties with a picture of a panda in the middle, because she was allowed to be gaudy) almost strained her muscles too much.

It boiled down to the most unsexy striptease session in the history of sleepy ghost towns. How was she supposed to seduce Naoto with this poor performance? Years of training, completely wasted.

But the detective was giving her a calculating look. Nanako raised an eyebrow at her, but then she heard Souji wail, "Big sis!"

She turned immediately to the boy, who just a moment ago had been watching the water fill up in the tub. His eyes were wide like an owl's. "What's the matter—" she began.

Oh.

"The bandages," she murmured, looking down at her body. She must look like a mummy to him. She promptly went into big sis mode. "Sou-chan, don't worry! N-no, don't cry! Really, I'm fine! I just need a while to recover, and then these will be gone in no time, okay?"

He didn't seem soothed. Oh, hell. It'd be even worse when she was unwrapped and he saw the full extent of her bruises. She'd be giving him even more nightmares at this rate. 'Do you need a bath too?' What was wrong with her?

It was too late to back out now, though. He'd know she was doing it to hide something from him, just like...

She sighed. "Sou-chan... I'm really all right, but my bruises are kinda ugly. Are you sure you want to see them?"

"U-umm..." he said, not quite managing to look her in the eye.

"Souji-kun," Naoto said. The boy's attention snapped to her. "Do you remember the yellow bruise I had here?" The detective pulled one leg of her pants all the way up to the knee.

"It's... n-not there anymore," the boy observed meekly.

"Yes, and Nanako-san's will also disappear with time." Naoto gave him a tight little smile.

'Thank you,' Nanako mouthed at her. "Though mine are probably a bit bigger than that one. Sou-chan, you don't have to look if you don't want to."

Souji's face contorted into a look of determination. "It's... it's okay. Y-you're my big sis, so... I want to, umm... h-help you."

Aww, he didn't want to give up the job of helping her wash up to Naoto. Nanako motioned the detective over and together they began to remove her bandages. She bit her tongue to keep from hissing. Her bruised skin was revealed, a blotchy greenish yellow, and she reeked of dead skin under the wrappings.

Souji whimpered just once at the sight... and then fell to the floor right on his bottom and began to wail.

Nanako pushed Naoto away from her and moved forward, wanting to cuddle him, but she stopped just one foot or so away, because if it was her ugly bruises scaring him, he wouldn't want a hug. "It's-it's okay, Sou-chan, it really is," she pleaded, grabbing the nearest towel and wrapping it around her body to keep the worst of her bruises from view. "They'll go away, they really will!"

The little boy shook his head, tears streaming from his eyes. He swallowed and gasped an, "I k-know... B-but..." then sniffled and continued to cry.

"Honey...!" she cried, wringing her hands. "They're just bruises."

"B-big sis..." he blubbered, "big sis, you g-got _hurt_...!"

It dawned on her then that it wasn't the bruises on their own that upset him, but the fact that she'd been hurt to receive them.

"I love you, big sis," he whimpered, "d-don't want to see you hurt..."

She drew him into a hug, almost losing the towel in the process, and continued to hold him until he was all cried out. "I love you too, Sou-chan, and I'm sorry... I'll try to be more careful, okay?"

He nodded against her chest. It seemed the worst was over; he was still sniffling but no longer crying.

"All right," she said, drawing back just a little to smile faintly at him. "Come on. Let's wash up, okay? And you, Shirogane-san! If you're gonna take a bath with us, you gotta take your PJs off!"

The detective had stood away while she'd been comforting her little cousin. "Ah, yes..." she said now.

Too busy running her fingers through Souji's hair, Nanako didn't even watch the detective change out of her clothes.

* * *

The hot water felt so good that Nanako almost cried herself. It had been a veritable struggle to get her broken body over and into the damned tub even with Naoto's assistance, but it had been worth it, so worth it, even if it had made her gasp so helplessly upon entering the water.

Being in the water seemed to have cheered Souji up as well. He'd taken the floating penguin toy from the low shelf and was pushing it through the water between his hands.

"Where's Rainbow Fish?" she asked him.

He caught the penguin and hugged it to him. "It's... up there." He pointed to the highest shelf in the bathroom.

Nanako stared at the offending shelf. "How the heck did it get up there?" She didn't remember putting it up there; it was far too high for Souji to reach. Maybe it had been Saki's doing.

"We couldn't reach it..." the boy murmured, looking down at the penguin.

"'We'?" She gave him a puzzled look, and then Naoto coughed. Oh, that's right. The Detective Prince's biggest challenge: verticals. "Well, we'll ask your mom to get it down later." She wasn't sure she was up to the task of standing that straight to reach it herself.

She took the penguin toy from him, then pushed it towards him, and he pushed it towards Naoto, who twisted it like a top so that it spun around in the water. Nanako was about to push it again when Souji interrupted her.

"Big sis, your hands..."

She hid them under the water, but it was too late. So now he had noticed her scars. It would never end, would it?

"Y-yeah, they got a bit cut up." She held her hand out to him and let him inspect her fingers. "The doctor gave me some cream that'll make them heal up, so they'll be all better eventually."

"Papa had a scar," Souji told her. "Right on his arm. It went all the way here." He pointed to his left shoulder and drew his fingers down to the elbow.

"That's a long one! Did he tell you what happened?"

"No... but he said..." Souji's brow knit together as he recalled the words. "It's a symbol of past experience."

"Those are big words, Sou-chan. I think your dad was very wise."

He looked down into the water for a long moment. "Do you think... he loved me?"

"'Course he did, Sou-chan!" Nanako replied immediately. "Maybe he didn't show it all the time, but I'm sure he did, just like your mom does. Remember, he got you the fish toy and the penguin! I'm sure he loved bath time with you, just like I do."

He was smiling at her now. Who wouldn't love him? Only someone without a heart! 

"Y-yeah..." he murmured. "But sometimes... I worry that... I c-can't remember what he looked like..."

Now Naoto spoke up, her voice soft and gentle. "I lost both of my parents at a young age, Souji-kun. I worried about the same thing. There are many things we forget as we grow older. But even if you forget something like that, do remember that no matter what, he would be proud of you."

"You lost your dad... and your mom...?"

Naoto nodded, but before she could even finish the motion, Souji had moved over in the water and was giving her a hug.

"Ah, err... th-thank you," she told him, looking down at him with bewilderment.

"I miss Papa," he murmured, "but you miss both of them..."

"I do," she admitted, and when Souji looked up at her, Naoto hugged him back.

* * *

After exiting the bath and drying off, Nanako sat on a stool in the bathroom and watched Naoto go through the laborious process of binding her breasts. It looked painful, and the detective admitted that it was uncomfortable, although she was used to it by now.

"Umm," Nanako began, and then she stopped. This was important to Naoto, and she was worried about it being a sensitive subject.

"Yes?" The detective paused and turned her head.

"Well..." she continued hesitantly, "if you think a sports bra would help, you can use one of mine." Naoto had picked out clothes for her. The set included a blouse, thigh-length skirt, and underclothes. She hadn't put any of it on yet because she was still helping Souji dry off.

"Hmm," said Naoto, eyeing the item of clothing that Nanako was holding out to her.

"I've got more," Nanako assured her. "Although it might not be the right size for you."

"Please. It might indeed make it easier," the detective murmured.

After finishing with that, Naoto helped Nanako into her clothes—sans bra, that is. Nanako decided she didn't really need one since she wasn't planning on leaving the house today.

Speaking of missing articles of clothing, they'd totally forgot to bring a new set of clothes for Souji to change into. She draped a towel around his shoulders and told him he could use it as a cape for now.

She exited the bathroom, Naoto at her side and little Souji between them, and almost ran right into Aunt Seta.

Nanako froze as the woman raised an eyebrow at the sight of them. Herself without a bra, Souji completely naked except for a towel, and Naoto, masquerading as a boy. And they'd just come out of the bathroom together...!

She glanced from her aunt to the detective, then back again. "Uh, uh, I can explain!"

"Explain what, exactly?" Aunt Seta asked with a polite but puzzled expression.

"Th-that I was in the bathroom with him...?"

"'Him'?" Aunt Seta looked down at her son, who had run up to hug her legs. "But it's normal for you to take a bath with Souji. Isn't that right, darling?"

"Y-yes, Mama...!" Souji looked up at her, and with the action the towel about his shoulders got untied and fell off, leaving him entirely bare.

"Err," said Nanako. "But Shirogane-san..."

"...is a very responsible young woman," Aunt Seta finished. "And I see nothing wrong with her helping you in the bath, Nanako-chan."

Nanako stared at her. She knew!? Naoto seemed surprised, too, but then smiled wryly. "Your aunt is remarkably perspicacious."

"I'll have you know, young lady," said Aunt Seta with a playful smile, "that I am still a Dojima."

Nanako heaved a sigh of relief. Really, she'd have it no other way.


	38. Threading Carefully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results of Nanako's mistakes begin to make themselves very apparent.

[8/9: Tuesday]

Days passed by in a blur. Nanako slept often; although she'd been discharged from the hospital, her body was still recovering from what she'd done to it, and she was still hyped up on some powerful pain medication that had drowsiness as its main side effect. At least Souji sometimes napped with her, the cutie.

Today marked the day she felt well enough to leave the house. Actually leave the house, not just hang out in the backyard like she'd done sometimes to get a bit of fresh air. Her bruises had mostly cleared up, though there were a few around her torso that were stubbornly clinging to life. Her body still felt sore and stiff, and she winced whenever she moved, but she wanted to let the world know that she was alive.

She wanted to go somewhere with Souji. Maybe the flood plain, or...

"C-can we visit Kanji-san?" Souji asked that morning. "I want to learn crochet."

"Sure," she told him. She heaved herself to her feet, and after stretching out and assessing her pain level one last time, she took his hand and they headed out.

The summer sun was oppressive today, but she didn't realize it was going to be so hot until they were already at the central shopping district. She hadn't brought anything like sunscreen or a hat to block it with. She idly thought of using the Loveline umbrella for shade, but she'd left that at home, and it probably wouldn't be sufficient anyway since its material was rather thin.

Souji didn't seem to mind the heat that much, or at least he didn't complain, but his gray hair was darkened by the sweat from his brow. She stopped by the liquor store to buy a can of The Natural from the vending machine outside. She shared it with him, and when she asked his favorite soda, he actually had one: Cielo Mist.

"Ah, too bad they don't seem to sell that one around here," she told him.

"It's okay," he said with a small smile. "This one's close enough."

As they approached the door to Tatsumi Textiles, Nanako noticed that there was a small shrine right outside the door. A few flowers had been placed around the stone.

Souji worked his mouth as he tried to read the name inscribed on the stone. "Ku... ma...?"

A lump formed in her throat. "C-come on, honey," she told him. "Let's go inside."

Kanji's mother was speaking with an old lady, but she waved for them to head on into the back. They found Kanji hard at work teaching Yuuta the basics of crochet.

"Yuu-chan!" Nanako exclaimed at the sight. "What are you doing here?"

The boy jumped at her voice and dropped his crochet work. "D-d-don't call me that!" he scolded when he recovered.

"Yuu-chan~" she sang with a teasing smile. The boy's scowl deepened.

"He asked me to teach him," Kanji said with a shrug. "He was hanging out outside by the store, makin' my Ma all uncomfortable, so I made him come in and asked what was up."

"S-Souji-kun t-told me he was learning to crochet," Yuuta said, "and I wanna learn too!" He stared defiantly at Nanako as if expecting her to say something about that.

Instead she looked at her cousin. "Good, you can learn together, then! If that's okay with you, Kanji-kun, that is. That's kinda why we came over."

"Sure thing, Senpai. You gonna learn this, too?"

She narrowed her eyes at Yuuta and Souji. She was already really good at the chaining technique since she'd had so much spare time at the hospital to practice it in. She didn't consider the craft fun, exactly, but it had been engrossing. The fun would be doing it with her little cousin. Her hands were much better now, so it'd be easier this time. "Yeah. Let's do this!"

Kanji taught them a new type of crochet stitch and put them to work practicing it. Once they settled into a nice pattern, Nanako began to make small talk.

"So, Yuu-chaaan, why'd you want to learn this, anyway?"

Yuuta looked up from his work to frown at her. "Boss, don't call me that," he whined. A moment later he continued, "W-well, I couldn't let Souji-kun learn it on his own, so I had to take up the challenge with him!"

He looked pleased with himself, so Nanako asked, "Why couldn't he learn it on his own?"

Yuuta's mouth turned down. "Us guy friends have to stick together! If it's both of us, no one can make fun of us at school!"

"You aren't even in the same class," she pointed out.

Now his face looked pained. "I... I just wanna make cute plushies, Boss," he finally admitted.

"You wanna make cute plushies?" Nanako pretended to look skeptical.

"I WANNA MAKE THE CUTEST PLUSHIES!!!" he shouted, with force that surprised everyone, including himself.

After a contemplative moment of silence, Kanji nodded at him and said, "Damn right you'll make the cutest plushies! But first you gotta learn the single crochet, so get back to work, okay? You too, Senpai!"

"Heh heh," said Nanako. "And why do you want to learn this, Sou-chan? Are you going to make cute plushies, too?"

Concentrating on his work, the boy didn't answer immediately. "Want to make something for Mama," he murmured without looking up.

"Oh? What do you plan to make?"

This time Souji didn't answer at all. She forgave him for the moment. Maybe he hadn't decided on a particular item yet, and besides, he'd only just started learning the art. She herself didn't have any plans in mind. Maybe... maybe a pink alligator... though that would make her sad every time she saw it.

And... that boy really loved his mom, huh? Well, of course he did, but it was bittersweet to see him show it. It was summer break now—Nanako vowed to talk to his mom later about taking a vacation from work to spend time with him.

After working for a while, Nanako excused herself to use the bathroom, but instead of going there, she returned to the store. Kanji's mother was relaxing on a cushion, her guest from earlier no longer around. Nanako approached her hesitantly. "Tatsumi-san, umm... Can I ask about that shrine in the front of the store?"

The elderly woman smiled sadly up at her. "Ah, yes. Kanji made that. It seems that someone important to him passed on."

'Important to him' wasn't quite the right phrase, but...

The woman looked towards the shop door, as though recalling something. "I know my son," she said in a confiding tone. Her voice was kind, and stirred something within Nanako, though she fought to keep it in. "I know him more than he realizes, and with the way he was moping about, I could tell..." She hesitated, closing her eyes for a moment. "I could tell that something dreadful had happened. I feared that he would shut me away should I be too forceful in my questioning, so I simply said he could tell me anything, and he told me what happened."

Nanako swallowed hard. What exactly had he told her? Kanji did say, once, that he could never lie to his mother.

"Losing someone is always difficult," she continued, "be they pet or loved one."

The woman smiled, but her eyes held another emotion entirely. Nanako could only guess she was thinking about her husband, who had passed on. Just like Uncle Seta, she thought.

"Kanji felt responsible, you see... He told me that he regrets not being a better friend, asked me what might be done to ease that regret, but there is no answer to that. We thought about it some, and eventually settled on a shrine. Remembrance is the most anyone can do."

Nanako nodded. "Thank you," she said thickly. "We... we all feel that way."

"I had a feeling," the woman said, smiling her sad smile again. Nanako thought she might ask for details, but she never did, and so they sat comfortably on the cushions until Souji walked out holding something that, if she squinted, might have resembled an egg.

"Big sis, look!" he said, holding the crocheted object out to her. His smile was beaming, proud, contagious, the biggest grin she had ever seen on him. Nanako looked at the creature again, determined to find something to praise, something that wouldn't be a big fat lie, and eventually she noticed the colors. Red, blue, and yellow, exactly in the right places.

Remembrance, huh? Yeah... Kanji wouldn't let her forget.

"Good job, Sou-chan!" she said, raising him high and then throwing him across her shoulder. She winced from her bruises, but fortunately he couldn't see that. "Did you thank Kanji-kun?"

"Y-yeah...!" he said, giggling because she had started to tickle his bare feet. "Yuu-kun is still there with him."

"Well then, let's mosey!" she declared, figuring that talking to Kanji now would reduce them both to blubbering messes.

Nanako carried the giggling boy all the way outside, and Tatsumi-san was kind enough to hand her his shoes. They passed by the shrine again, and though Nanako was going to leave it be for now, a thought occurred to her.

"Oh, hold on, Souji-kun," Nanako said, putting him down and reaching into her bag. She then took the boy by the hand and approached the shrine, bowing respectfully. Souji knew what to do already, and she suppressed the pang of guilt that came with the realization of why that was. They clasped their hands, bowed, and then Nanako took a step forward.

She raised the cracked star mask to her eyes. Carrying it around was painful. Whenever she touched it, she remembered what she had lost, what she had missed—but that was why she had to carry it.

Carefully, she placed the mask on top of the shrine.

"It looks like a crown..." Souji commented. then he frowned, looking intently at the shrine.

"Sou-chan?" Nanako asked, hoping that she hadn't awakened any painful memories in him.

"Kuma," he said slowly.

Nanako inhaled sharply.

Souji looked at her with what Yosuke had once described as a piercing stare. She could see it now, how even though he was shy, he wouldn't avert his gaze when he was like this, and so she prepared for the inevitable question.

"Is this from the story?"

"Yes."

"Then the s-special someone..." he trailed off.

There were no more questions from him, and as they walked away, Nanako thought that there was one more shrine she ought to visit soon.

...but she was not ready yet, she was not ready to see Mr. Morooka's grave.

* * *

Instead of going right to bed, Nanako was conscious enough to stay up with her aunt and watch the news. Souji had already been put to bed, so it was as good a time as any to have a talk with the woman, and the news segment was over, so... _Let's start with a compliment, shall we?_ "You know, Auntie... You're pretty cool," she remarked.

"'Cool'?" Aunt Seta prompted, an eyebrow raised. She always acted so imperious, didn't she? Kind of like Margaret, in a way.

"Yeah!" said Nanako. "I mean, like... When I was caught getting out of the bath with Shirogane-san. I thought... that you were gonna think the worst and I was gonna be grounded for a month!"

"Well, I could still ground you," the woman replied in a playful tone of voice. "Although it wouldn't be for that."

"And even Souji-kun was naked," Nanako went on, hoping to get the discussion past her being grounded. "It had to look rather, umm, compromising!"

Now Aunt Seta snorted. "Do you know how often your father left the bathroom naked? He wasn't exactly a nudist, but when he was a child, well!"

Nanako stared and then requested that her aunt tell her more about the dysfunctional Dojima family.

"We're functional, not dysfunctional," the woman corrected with a sly smile. "Summers could be very hot in those days, you understand. On the hottest days, Ryotaro would not always get around to putting on his briefs." She stirred her cup of tea and stared at the swirling liquid. "And then he'd proceed to invite his friends over anyway."

Nanako stared into the void with her. "...Did his friends end up naked too?"

The woman didn't look up from the teacup, but Nanako swore that she cracked a smile.

"Wait, Aunt Seta!" she declared suddenly as a thought occurred to her. "You're a Dojima, so... uh, umm...!" _W-what about you, Aunt Seta? Do you like everyone the way I do? Like, were you ever tempted to orchestrate a threesome with your husband and Adachi-san...?_ Nanako burned with the desire to know, but the idea of asking her guardian such personal questions was frightening all on its own.

"I just find it very amusing," Aunt Seta said, "how similar you are to him in some ways."

"Hey, I'm not gonna spend my summer nak..." she trailed off mid-word. Did, did Aunt Seta know that she went skinny dipping with Saki? Oh god, Souji could have told her!

The woman was totally smirking at her. He did, didn't he?

"Aunt Setaaaa!" she wailed.

Her aunt chuckled, but the woman's amusement faded a few moments later. "Speaking of your father. I know you needed some time to relax, but you really need to call him. He's been asking to hear from you."

"He has...?" Nanako murmured.

"Uh, yes." Aunt Seta nodded with a wide-eyed look that said it was obvious that he would be asking.

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts. You're going to call him."

Nanako stared at the table, wishing the conversation could return to something playful. She wasn't ready to talk to her father. "Please," she begged. "I will call him, just... not now. Maybe, maybe at the end of summer?"

"That's quite a while away," Aunt Seta observed.

"I... I wanna talk it over with my mom first," Nanako said. "She'll know better what I should say, and..."

Aunt Seta took a sip of her tea. "It's on your head if your father gets upset with you for ignoring him."

Nanako let the awkward silence elapse for a while. "By the way, Aunt Seta, since it is summer, I was wondering if you were going to take a vacation. Y-you mentioned it before, that you have some vacation time saved up. Souji-kun really wants to spend more time with you."

The woman shifted on her cushion. "A vacation," she murmured. "Hmm..." She drummed her nails against the table.

"You could go somewhere," Nanako suggested. "Or if you don't want to, you could spend the time relaxing at home. I'm sure there are some home projects you've been meaning to get to. Maybe, uh, painting or wallpapering the house? It feels kind of dark in here sometimes. A light color would do wonders."

"I'll think about it," Aunt Seta promised, and Nanako could only trust her.

Though wait, was her 'thinking about it' in regards to the vacation or about painting the house? Nanako quickly retracted her trust and said, "Please do. I feel like you need this, and Souji-kun does too."

Aunt Seta gave no answer, not even a smile, only a distant look that Nanako couldn't even begin to decipher. For a social link, they really didn't know each other that well, did they?

But since that was the best she could do, Nanako decided to cap it off saying: "Oh, and... well... thanks for being cool."

She did smile, then.

* * *

[8/10: Wednesday]

Nanako called up Yukiko, recalling vaguely how the girl had appeared at her 'I'm out of the hospital' celebration party. Although she'd been smiling, there'd been a tension to her, like she'd wanted to talk to Nanako about something but the party hadn't been the place for it.

Right as someone picked up, Nanako switched the phone to her other ear, because she could still hardly hear out of one.

"—the Amagi Inn, Yukiko Amagi speaking. What can I do for you?"

"Let me into those hot springs, Yukiko, honey!" Nanako joked.

"Nanako! Ah, please forgive me. I've been working the front desk all day. That greeting has become second nature to me. I hardly realized I was answering my cell instead of the land line."

"That's fine," Nanako said with positivity. "Say, uh, when do you get a break? I wanna hang out with you today!"

The girl on the other end of the line hummed. "Is it possible for you to come here to the inn? I know it's far, but..."

And miss the chance of possibly, maybe using the hot springs just because she'd have to take a bus? "No problem! I'll be over in a jiffy."

The longest part was waiting for the bus. Since Inaba was such a small town, its public transportation system wasn't on par with Tokyo's. The buses ran when they felt like it rather than on a strict timetable. She messed around with her phone while waiting. Hmm, she really needed to email her friends in Tokyo. They didn't know she'd been in the hospital. Did she want to tell them?

Eventually she made it to the Amagi Inn. The building hadn't changed at all since she'd last visited it what felt like so many months ago, though some of the plants lining the path to the building were looking a little wilted from the summer heat.

She went right inside and asked the middle-aged lady at the front desk for Yukiko. She was directed into a side room that boasted a large conference table. At the far end, Yukiko looked rather small behind two neat stacks of papers. She was punching things into a calculator on the table. There was a pencil tucked over her ear. Her left arm was in a sling.

Yukiko looked up when she entered the room. The frown on her face turned into a small smile. "Nanako. I'm just working on our accounts. Please come on in." Nanako took the seat nearest to her friend while the girl finished some calculation. Yukiko sighed at the reading on the calculator. "This is ridiculous..."

"What is?" Nanako asked with polite interest.

"Traditionally, we allow towels in the hot springs. However, it's costing us a small fortune in cleaning expenses. I don't see why we should allow them when almost all other hot springs don't."

"I've never been to a hot springs that allows them in the water!" Nanako agreed. "Honestly, I don't know if I'd want to go to one that does. That's kinda gross."

Yukiko nodded. "I only thought it was normal to allow them because I was raised here, so to me, it's always been that way. When I asked my mother about it earlier, she simply told me that her mother allowed them, and so _of course_ we will, too. It's tradition."

"Tradition, smadrition."

Yukiko held up the calculator. "I was hoping to go through all of our cleaning records and tally up the total to show her. It might convince her."

"You should also find a way to convince her to make the baths mixed sex," Nanako suggested. "I wanna be able to go with the boys, just like at the bathhouse in the TV World!"

"One thing at a time, Nanako," Yukiko said, her smile turning a bit coquettish. Nanako raised an eyebrow at her, and then Yukiko sighed and put the calculator down. "I'm glad you've come. I've been meaning to talk to you about, well... Chie."

"Oh boy..." She should've known, really...

"She lets the stupidest things get to her!" Yukiko shouted with sudden ferocity. "Really, Nanako! I can't believe she refused to come to your get-well party. You were in the hospital, for goodness' sake!"

"Well, I mean," Nanako began. "If she's holding a grudge against me, I can kinda understand."

"We argued about it! And she wouldn't budge." Yukiko sighed again and continued mournfully, "And she still won't budge..."

Nanako stared at her, eyes wide. This couple was having trouble because of her?

"She's upset because we almost died," Yukiko went on. "And I know that's true, but she doesn't see at all that you almost died too!" Nanako began to reply, but her friend kept going. "Half the reason she's mad isn't even that she almost died, but that you 'put me in danger' or something. "

"I did put you in danger," Nanako pointed out quietly.

Yukiko set her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. "Nanako, I make my own decisions. I appreciate that Chie helps me as often as she does, but I decided to head into the dungeon that night, not you. Or do you think I follow your orders just because I have no other choice?"

Nanako didn't have an answer to that.

Yukiko sighed and lowered her gaze. "Chie is just... too into being my knight, protecting my purity, preserving my honor. I'm starting to think she's not at all different from all those boys who keep taking on the 'Amagi Challenge' at school."

"N-no, don't say that! Chie is just worried about you..."

"I don't need to be babied! I want her to worry about herself, too. Let me be the knight for a change. But she's just too stubborn..."

"W-well, you kind of are the knight, sometimes!" Nanako tried. "You've saved our butts loads of times with your fire."

"That's not the point, Nanako. I just don't want to be protected as much as I am. I want the freedom to be my own person. And that's why I went to visit you in the hospital on my own, and why I went to the party when Kanji-kun invited me even though Chie didn't want to come. You should know the truth—she didn't want me to go."

With a chill going through her, Nanako recalled how Chie's Shadow had mentioned a desire to exert control over Yukiko. She'd definitely have to have a talk with Chie... if the girl was willing to speak with her.

"And now our conversations are much shorter than they used to be. Honestly, I don't feel like talking to her." Yukiko sighed and stared down at the calculator without seeing it. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you this, though I'm glad you listened. I think she and I just need some time apart."

"You can tell me anything," Nanako promised.

"Yes, and that's another thing! I feel that I can talk to you about anything. It's not the same with Chie. I can't tell her that I want to talk to boys. It's not that I want someone to break through the silly 'Amagi Challenge,' but... I am interested on some level to see what I'm missing. Does that make sense?"

"It totally does!" Nanako declared, suddenly animated. "We girls are supposed to be a mystery to boys, and boys are supposed to be a mystery to us. And that's not right at all! That's why I suggested a mixed sex hot springs. I mean, sure, modesty has its place, but a mystery has to be solved, am I right?"

Yukiko giggled at her. "Oh, Nanako... yes!"

* * *

Nanako came home to Aunt Seta preparing the house for Detective Adachi's arrival. There wasn't much cleaning for her to do—she was hardly home to dirty up the house, and for a child, Souji was both low-maintenance and a bit of a neat freak. He always kept the kitchen clean after every meal.

Nanako wasn't sure what to do herself. It felt like forever since she'd seen Adachi-san. She focused instead on her cousin, who, playing with Foxie in the living room, seemed completely unconcerned for once that the detective was coming over to visit. He asked her how her day was and reported that he and Naoto had finished a puzzle together. It reminded her to ask about Naoto, who didn't seem to be in the house at the moment. Apparently Naoto had gone to the station.

Soon enough, there was a knock on the door. Souji took her hand and tugged it, but it wasn't out of anxiety—he just wanted the two of them to move to the dining room to greet the guest.

"Ryoko-san," Adachi said with a small bow when Aunt Seta opened the door.

"Tohru-san," Aunt Seta replied. "Please come in."

Nanako shifted her weight and nibbled her lower lip, because it still felt weird that they were on a first-name basis like that. She shouldn't be so nosy, but... heh heh...

"Nanako-kun!" Adachi said upon seeing her. "I heard about your accident. I'm glad you're better now."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Y-yeah, it was scary there for a bit."

He looked at her for a moment, but apparently—fortunately—didn't have anything else to say because his gaze soon settled on Souji, who was looking up at him with muted excitement. "Uh, yeah?" the man prompted.

"A-Adachi-san, l-look..." Souji held up a stack of papers to him, and he took them with a bemused expression. "Big sis and her friends... m-my friends... c-compatriots... We colored them together..."

"Dinosaurs, huh?" Adachi said, shuffling through the stack. "Oh, is this one yours...?" He held out one of the papers—the pterodactyl.

"Yeah!" Souji declared with a big happy grin.

Adachi gave him a goofy smile in return, then began to look through the rest of the colored dinosaurs. "And I'm gonna guess Nanako-kun did this one." He pulled out the t-rex that had a big ribbon and hearts drawn around it.

Nanako's answer was only a smile. He was wrong—that was Saki's.

Aunt Seta told them to have a seat because dinner was almost ready. It was pork-belly soup. Aunt Seta had put more scallions over the pork than Nanako would have liked, but aside from that, it was a good meal and she wondered if maybe she could have her aunt teach her to cook.

"So... how's work?" Adachi asked.

"Same old, same old," Aunt Seta replied with a sigh.

When she said no more, both the detective and Nanako blinked at her. It was unusual for her not to talk their ears off about work!

"I might take a vacation," she continued. "Nanako-chan mentioned it last night and I'm seriously considering it."

"Oh? Will you go somewhere?" the detective asked. "You could visit Mt. Fuji, if you're into that."

Nanako almost laughed at the idea of her aunt climbing a mountain.

"I did that in my youth," Aunt Seta said with a coy smile, as if reading her thoughts.

Adachi seemed speechless at the idea, too, or at least it took him a while to speak. "Well, you're one-up on me there!" he eventually managed. "I've only seen the mountain from afar myself."

"Big sis..." Souji began, but he stopped when everyone looked at him. Nanako told him to go on. "Umm... big sis said... she's going to take me to the beach sometime... Mama could go to the beach, too."

What with everything that had happened, Nanako had almost forgotten all about that plan. She supposed that Aunt Seta could come along as their chaperone.

"Souji has never been to the beach," Aunt Seta reported with a mildly surprised expression. "You'll have to watch him the first time he swims in the ocean. Although I suppose it's not very different from the river, where he's... had practice recently." She was raising her eyebrow at Nanako again.

Crap, the woman really did know about her skinny dipping! "Y-yeah, you should totally come to the beach with us!" Nanako declared. "Fun in the sun for all of us. We could go as a family, or with all my friends. There's plenty of summer so I wouldn't mind going to the beach twice. Oh, but Adachi-san..." She'd totally forgotten to include him in this conversation!

"I probably wouldn't be able to get a day off," Adachi said with a sigh. "But maybe Souji-kun can tell me all about it later, hmm?"

"Y-yeah!" the boy agreed with a big smile. "I'll think of you..."

Adachi stared at him for a very long moment, his face full of honest surprise. Then he scratched the back of his head. "Err... thanks, kid."

After putting the used dishes in the sink to be cleaned later, Aunt Seta pulled out her day planner, musing to herself over when a day or two off would be the most feasible. She apparently had several meetings and a review coming up, but after some debate she wrote a note down on the square for next Monday. "But Souji will have to miss cram school," she mused aloud.

"Cram school?" said Adachi. "Let the kid have a break!"

Aunt Seta looked up from the planner and blinked at him. She looked at Souji, who was looking at her without much expression, and then at Adachi. "Y-yes," she said. "I suppose just one day can't hurt."

Nanako let out the breath she had been holding. Bit by bit, Aunt Seta was becoming a better mom.

* * *

When it came time for Adachi to leave later in the evening, he paused after Aunt Seta wished him a good night. "Actually," he said, "I wanted to speak with Nanako-kun in private, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course," said Aunt Seta, smiling at the both of them.

Nanako blinked at him and tried to keep a frown from forming on her face. Was he going to talk to her about the case? No, more likely, she thought, he wanted to say something about Souji. Maybe ask how the boy was holding up. Aww, wouldn't that be sweet? Now she was smiling warmly at him.

He didn't return the smile, but that might be because he was looking around the room. The house had an open floor plan, so privacy was hard to come by. Although Souji and Aunt Seta had moved to the living room, they could still overhear a conversation taking place in the kitchen.

"Maybe we should go outside," Nanako suggested.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Come on."

He led her outside and to the carport, where Aunt Seta's car was parked. It was the only vehicle present; apparently Adachi had simply walked to the Seta residence this evening. She wondered idly if he lived far from here and decided he probably didn't. Inaba was a small town, after all!

He turned on the carport's ceiling light, which illuminated the two of them in a sickly yellow light. Then he watched her for a while without saying anything. 

"Uh, yes, Detective?" she prompted. He had a fairly unnerving stare—it was a cop's stare, just like her dad's, and it was definitely making her uncomfortable.

"What happened to your long skirt?"

"The school one? You know, I don't really know," she replied, surprised at the question. "The hospital kind of put me in their own clothes, you know... I thought they might've given it to my aunt, but I haven't seen it in the house at all, unless it's in the laundry." It might also have been torn mostly to shreds from what it suffered in the TV World. She'd probably have to buy another one before second term began. "...Why?"

Wordlessly, he took out his work phone, and after a few button presses he showed her its screen.

By the fuzzy quality of the video and the fact that it wasn't in color, she easily recognized that it was a security feed of some sort. A few moments later in the video, someone in a long skirt ran by. Not long after that, a gangly boy ran past.

By the time stamp in the corner... early Wednesday morning, July 27. 

"What the hell am I looking at, Nanako-kun?" Adachi asked when the clip ended.

She swallowed, but didn't answer. Her friends, she couldn't risk getting them in trouble! C-crap, what could she say? She couldn't play dumb now; she'd let too much time elapse.

How sympathetic was this detective to her? He'd helped her get Yosuke out of a hot mess once... but this was a mess on an entirely different scale.

"Well?" he prompted. "There's more where that came from."

"I..." she began. Then she set her jaw. "Yeah, okay. I'm the one who broke into Junes that night. I didn't fall off a damned bridge."

Adachi snorted. "You think I don't know that? That shit's obvious. That's not what I meant, Nanako-kun."

"Th-then what did you mean?" she asked with as much confidence as she could muster.

"You went after a suspected murderer on your own." He ran his fingers over his orange tie. "That's my job. I've got the badge and a gun to back me up. You and your friends think you're vigilantes or something? Kubo is dangerous. You could have died."

She was unable to meet his gaze.

He heaved a long sigh. "Honestly, I don't care what you get up to with your friends. I really don't." He paused, waiting for her to respond, but she didn't, so he went on. "But you need to understand something. There won't always be someone to bail you out of trouble."

With that, he began to walk away. Nanako looked up just enough to notice that one of his hands was in his pocket, clenched tightly around something.


	39. Haiku of the Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanako tries to figure out who she is after everything that has happened, but these things are never easy—and neither is patching up her broken team.

[8/11: Thursday]

Nanako sat at the vanity table in Saki's room and watched her friend behind her in the mirror.

"How about braids?" Saki asked, threading Nanako's hair into one long braid without waiting for her answer.

"Nah..."

"A bun?" Saki wrapped the half-finished braid around itself into a makeshift bun.

"That's for old people, Senpai!"

"Pigtails?" Saki undid the braid and then separated the hair into two pigtails and waggled them.

Nanako snorted. "That takes me back. I haven't had pigtails since I was Souji-kun's age."

"We should do something with his hair, too."

"If only Junes made dinosaur-shaped hair clips."

"They do." Saki held a pair up with a mischievous smile.

Nanako took one from her. It was... it was pink and in the shape of a triceratops' head, and there were little hearts around it. It was obviously designed for little girls, and therefore perfect. "Wow, Senpai..." She shook her head, causing Saki to protest since the action shook the hair that she was still holding. "I think Yuu-chan might like them more than Sou-chan, though, heh heh."

"Speaking of Souji-kun," Saki said, "if you're with me, where's he at?"

"Oh, Shirogane-san is watching him for the day. They get along so well, it's really cute!"

"Anyone would get along with Souji-kun," Saki pointed out. "But Shirogane-san, hmm... That's interesting."

"Don't get jealous or anything," Nanako warned, "but he's living with us."

"...You're damn right I'm jealous," Saki muttered, nuzzling Nanako's neck with her nose. "Wish I could live with you. Anything beats living here."

"Your parents still bothering you with unrealistic expectations?" Nanako tried her best to stay on topic while the girl's breath warmed her skin.

"Yeah, but that's nothing new," Saki murmured. "I don't want to talk about them. Tell me about that Detective Prince. Why is he living with you?"

"Remember he got kidnapped out of his apartment? Well, he kind of doesn't want to go back there..."

Saki's eyes widened with excitement—Nanako could see the exact moment the idea came to her in the mirror. "Oh! If he's afraid of living alone, I could live with him!"

"Wouldn't that be something," Nanako murmured.

"It can't be weirder for him than living with you," Saki teased. "And I do clean up after myself."

"Are you implying that I don't?" Nanako pretended to look offended. "Because—"

Saki kissed her, effectively shutting her up.

Nanako kissed back with a soft murmur, savoring the taste of the cherry lip gloss, but then she pulled away with a heavy sigh.

"What?" Saki's lips turned down in a frown. "I'm not THAT bad a kisser."

"Oh, no," said Nanako, "the kiss was awesome. I just remembered something."

"Do tell. Is this going to get kinkier?"

Nanako shook her head. "Though I could always make it kinkier, heh heh. You know my friends Chie and Yukiko?"

"Yeah. Are they a couple, too?"

"Oh, totally. But now they're fighting, and it's all my fault!"

"Nanako, how can it be your fault? Short of you kissing one of them and then getting caught by the other, it can't be your fault."

"N-no, it's not a love triangle, although they both have very pretty legs—" At that, Saki tugged on her hair until she swatted her away. "What? They do!"

"I never really noticed," Saki admitted, "but I'll be sure to check next time I see them."

"Corrupting everyone, even those not in the DEATH Squad," Nanako murmured to herself. She blinked, remembering how Teddie had innocently asked to be corrupted, and how she'd just made a joke of it. What if she hadn't? What if—

Saki pulled her hair again. "I don't like that look on your face. What are you thinking?"

Nanako swallowed. "I'm thinking that after all we've been through, nothing's going to be the same now. And I'm wondering if Chie and Yukiko's relationship is one of those things."

Saki didn't answer immediately. "If a relationship can't survive the first time things go sour, well, maybe it wasn't built on the strongest foundation to begin with."

"D-don't say that!" Nanako exclaimed. Though some of the things Yukiko had said yesterday definitely indicated that Saki wasn't wrong...

"I'm saying," Saki went on, "that it was probably going to happen sooner or later, and you're just the excuse. Don't beat yourself up over it, Nanako."

Nanako stared down at the vanity's tabletop while Saki ran fingernails through her hair. Several long moments later, she looked up at her friend. "Wanna make out?"

Saki snickered. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

After having watched the news, Aunt Seta retired for the evening, leaving Nanako alone with Naoto at the tea table. The detective had watched the news with a dispassionate interest. Although Nanako had turned off the TV, her friend was continuing to stare at the blank screen.

"Have you tried putting your hand in?" Nanako asked, her voice just a whisper, not that anyone would overhear them. Souji was long since put to bed.

"Of course," Naoto replied without altering the direction of her gaze. "But I almost wish I hadn't. It is such an unnatural thing to experience." She shuddered, hugging her arms close to her body.

Nanako didn't disagree there, but the topic reminded her that they would eventually have to go back in there to explore both Naoto and Kubo's dungeons. Had large Shadows overtaken the final stages? Without Teddie, they'd only know if they went back there on their own and faced them.

And Nanako didn't have to ask to know that Naoto wanted to see the other dungeons first-hand, especially the sites of Ms. Yamano and Naoki-kun's deaths.

Maybe Naoto would like to visit the bathhouse, too? That idea didn't cheer Nanako up very much. Going back into the TV World, even for some fun... All it would do right now is bury her in her regrets. She recalled with bitterness how much she'd wanted Naoto on the team. Well, she'd gotten her wish, but the cost had been far too high.

It was too soon to go back there. Besides that, neither Chie nor Yosuke were in contact with her. And she'd promised Yosuke that she'd never ask him for anything again, which included anything related to the investigation, so she wouldn't be calling him up anytime soon, if ever.

"Your cousin..."

She blinked out of her thoughts. The detective had torn her gaze from the TV and was now addressing her. "Yes?" Nanako prompted.

The corner of Naoto's mouth was turned up in a half-smile. "I'm sorry. You looked far too pensive, and I thought to bring up a more palatable topic."

"How was it with him today?" Nanako asked, glad for the distraction. "And thanks for watching him."

"I believe I've mentioned before that at times a distraction is welcome, and he's hardly a bother. We had a fun time."

"Oh? What'd you do while I was gone? Another puzzle?"

Naoto shifted in her seat and her smile grew somewhat mischievous. "That is an interesting tale. I asked him what he really wanted to do, and he became rather flustered and wouldn't say until I pried it out of him."

Nanako imagined that—Naoto interrogating the little boy. Though of course the detective wouldn't have treated him like a criminal.

"As it so happens," Naoto continued, "he wanted me to read to him some of your manga. But he was afraid to go into your room and take them from the shelf without your permission." She paused for effect, and Nanako 'aww'd before she continued. "I told him I would be responsible if, in fact, it wasn't all right with you. But yes, we spent the day reading, err, 'Magical Detective Loveline.'"

"Truth and Justice," Nanako murmured, mostly to herself. "Actually," she said aloud, "I think the next volume is out, but... I haven't gone to the bookstore to get it yet. And I'm not sure I want to."

"Oh? Are you saving up your finances for something in particular?"

"It's not that," Nanako said almost hesitantly. "I just can't enjoy Loveline anymore. It's not... it's not me."

"Not you?" Naoto raised an eyebrow as if mimicking Aunt Seta. "Souji-kun seems to think otherwise. He pointed out several things Detective Loveline did in the manga that reminded him of you. And he informed me that you dressed up as a heroine quite reminiscent of her once when you were playing with him."

Nanako cracked a small smile at the memory of Souji in his 'Lieutenant Briefs' getup, but it didn't last long. "Loveline used to be my calling," she murmured. "Once upon a time."

"Are you feeling poetic today, Nanako-san?"

She laughed weakly at the detective's quip. Poetic, huh? She remembered the haiku she'd written for Mr. Morooka. That was about as poetic as she could get. "You know Loveline's catchphrase? Truth and Justice? When the truth isn't anything special and justice is subjective, I... I just..."

"Whether the truth is 'special' or not, it is the truth," Naoto began, but Nanako waved her off.

"Listen," she said, leaning forward. "I made a promise. A promise to Teddie that I'd figure out who was throwing people into his world and put a stop to it. A promise to find the truth." She paused, idly scratching a fingernail across surface of the tea table. "But at this point I don't think I even care about the truth. I just want it over."

"I doubt anyone would blame you for such a thought, considering the circumstances."

Nanako almost snorted, because the residents of the Velvet Room sure would blame her. That contract that she didn't remember signing... She should've demanded the details from them a long time ago, but no, they'd dazzled her with praise for her power of the 'Wild Card' and she'd never thought to question it.

Her brow furrowed in concentration. They'd never mentioned a contract or anything until she'd almost broken it that one time. She was sure of it! A contract didn't have to be written up on a sheet of paper. It could be verbal.

Like a promise?

"Loveline may not represent you now," Naoto said, "but you can aspire for it to. You don't need to give it up for lost. 'Truth and Justice' may well be your motto again one day, Nanako-san."

"Maybe," said Nanako, her voice laden with doubt.

"And if it never becomes yours," the detective continued. "Well, maybe one day it will become Souji-kun's."

* * *

[8/12: Friday]

The weather report promised a thunderstorm later in the day, but right now it was merely pouring rain—which meant it was perfect weather to catch Izaya in a good mood. Nanako had promised to speak with him, so she headed to the gas station, her purple umbrella in hand.

He wasn't in sight under the station's awning, nor was he hidden behind a gas pump—she checked them all—so she went inside and spoke with the store manager, who was reading a magazine behind the counter. According to him, Izaya was in the service garage behind the station.

The service garage's door was wide open, a moving truck in the only bay. She'd never been to the service garage before, so she was hesitant to enter, but then mentally shrugged and walked right on in.

Izaya's lower half was sticking out from under the moving truck. She had no idea what he was doing under there, and since he was busy working, she wondered if she should just leave and wait back at the store for potential customers. Before she could leave, however, Izaya's voice came from under the vehicle. "I know you're there, Nanako. How are you today...?"

How the heck had he known it was her? He couldn't see her!

"Uh, I'm okay, I guess, Izaya-san," she murmured, wondering if the manager had told him that she'd been in the hospital. She'd never seen Izaya interacting with the manager, so probably not. "How are you?"

"What do you think?"

She could easily imagine his creepy smile, the lip curled up just so. She didn't answer his question, knowing it was rhetorical.

A short time later, he rolled out from under the moving truck, an oily rag in his hand.

"I thought you said a local was the mechanic here?" she remarked.

"I never said I wasn't a local," Izaya replied, briefly chuckling at a joke only he heard, his creepy smile morphing into a sardonic and toothy grin. "In truth, he called out because of the weather, but anyone can do an oil change. I merely stepped up to the plate."

"I couldn't do an oil change," she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Perhaps that is the source of your problems."

Nanako laughed, but soon she noticed that Izaya was staring intently at her. Her problems, huh? She looked into his red eyes and remembered why she had come to the station.

"Did you hear, Izaya-san? The copycat killer was caught."

Izaya's head tilted slightly. "I have heard that, yes. But I'm ignorant of the details. And of his fate."

"He's been sent to a mental hospital," Nanako told him. "It's... It's what he deserves." She lowered her gaze and kicked her toe against the concrete floor of the garage.

Izaya snorted with force, and abruptly she brought her gaze back to him. He was shaking his head. "'What he deserves.' Don't lie to me, Nanako. The fire within you hasn't been dampened at all. You wish you'd gotten your hands on him."

"I had my chance," she reported, her eyes hard. "He was within my grasp, but I let him go, Izaya-san."

"You... let him go?" The man's face morphed into a frown of puzzlement, growing noticeably paler than its normal hue. "...Why?"

Nanako thought about it for a few minutes. Why? Everyone had almost died, herself included. When asked, back at the dungeon, she'd answered that she wanted the truth, but... but that wasn't why.

"I don't know," she eventually admitted. "You're right, though, I wish he'd died by my hand."

"Why, then?" he repeated, not frowning anymore but still very much puzzled, except on his face the confusion seemed larger than life, as though he was contemplating something completely alien to him.

"I don't know how to explain it, Izaya-san, but if I'd done anything different, anything at all, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you."

Death or the Hierophant. She continued to lose sleep over that choice, wondering what else she could have done.

"I don't understand," he admitted after a minute.

She looked out through the service garage's open door. The rain was pouring straight down; apparently there was no wind. She motioned at Izaya and then went out into the rain.

He followed her to a bench right outside the garage. It wasn't sheltered from the rain, and the cold water seeped through her skirt when she sat on it, though she hardly noticed the unpleasant sensation. Izaya sat too, his body angled towards her, a look of frank curiosity on his face.

"You told me, Izaya-san," she said, "that I shouldn't have regrets, but... y'know what? I have them. I regret letting him go. I won't—I can't—deny that!" The thin smile on her face was humorless. "But in the end, I went down the path that I thought would lead to the fewest regrets."

"But the regret you are left with is a hefty one," he pointed out.

"Yes," she said simply. "It is."

She leaned back in the bench and allowed the rain to wash over her face.

After a pause, she continued. "Trust me, it wasn't an easy choice, and even after I made it, I almost went back on it. In the end, to get my revenge, I'd have to sacrifice too many things."

"Like your innocence?" He sounded sarcastic.

She snorted her agreement, and rainwater dripped down her nose. "Yeah, right. I lost my innocence so long ago, I don't even remember it. But heck, even without having killed someone, sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be allowed to hug my little cousin, because my dirt might rub off on him." She sighed and rolled her head against the back of the bench until she was looking at him. "My innocence aside, Izaya-san, if I had my revenge, everything would change. My friends already think I'm crazy, but that would be crossing a line that I'm sure they hadn't even considered as an option. I might announce to the world that I don't care what they think, or what anyone thinks, but on some level I do. Yeah, I care what you think, too, Izaya-san. Don't give me that look."

"What look?" he murmured. "I believe I care more about what you think than the opposite." His eyes glittered. "Tell me, what else would have changed that swayed your decision?"

"I also might've ended up in jail," she pointed out. "That's the most obvious thing!"

Izaya shook his head. "As if the law's response crossed your mind at the time."

"It sure didn't," she freely admitted, "but it helps in justifying the decision to myself after the fact. Thinking of all the things that could've gone wrong had I chosen the other path."

But that assumes anything went right with the current path, she added in her mind while biting her lower lip. She wondered if killing Kubo would've prompted Naoto to build a case against her to get her arrested. Assuming her friends sent into the Secret Base would've been able to save Naoto from her Shadow. And that Teddie's Shadow wouldn't have gone on a rampage.

Yeah, right.

"It was just not the right decision to take at the time," she finished.

Considering it further, it was a decision she wouldn't have made without Igor. If he hadn't warned her of her options, she would've rushed headlong through her original plans. He wasn't supposed to be butting in like this—he'd said so!—and yet...

She had asked for a warning, hadn't she? When Mr. Morooka died, she'd complained that she wasn't given any sort of warning. This... it could have been Igor's way of making it up to her.

At that thought, she smiled in a sorrowful way. "Death, or the Hierophant," she muttered, closing her eyes.

She waited for Izaya to question that, but the only sound was the rain pattering around them. She opened her eyes and watched the man consider her words. Eventually, the side of his mouth turned up and his gaze moved up and locked onto hers. "I see," he said, and she knew in her heart that he meant it.

She matched his expression and looked to the distant sky. Dark clouds rolled through it; the promised thunderstorm was slowly invading Inaba.

They watched the encroaching darkness together for several long minutes.

"Do you... do you judge me for it?" Nanako asked in a voice smaller than Souji's.

* * *

[8/13: Saturday]

Nanako headed to the flood plain with trepidation, although she was the one who'd arranged this meeting; she'd sent a text to Chie asking to speak with her in person.

And Chie's only reply had been 'k.'

So she'd texted her friend the further details of time and place after debating hard with herself over whether they should go to Aiya or the flood plain. The latter had won out as a far more neutral location.

She dragged her feet as she turned onto the road that went through the flood plain, but she stopped completely as music came to her ears. That was Ayane's trombone, which wasn't too unusual, but today she was accompanied by...

A guitar?

She caught sight of the first year girl and stared, because she'd recognize that mop of dyed brown hair anywhere. Yosuke was playing with her. They were both by the river, completely absorbed in the piece they were playing. The sound... well, it wasn't great, but it didn't scare cats away or anything.

Huh, Nanako thought, and then continued on her way.

Chie was sitting at the edge of one of the pier stones some distance away from the music, leaning back on her hands and swinging her feet idly over the water. Since school was out, she was wearing casual clothes—a white pullover top and jean shorts. When she noticed Nanako approaching, she pulled her feet up onto the pier.

"Uh, hey, Chie," Nanako greeted, wondering if she should sit.

The girl didn't reply, only glanced at her and then began to stare out across the river, so Nanako went ahead and took a seat a few feet away and followed her gaze. Today there weren't any butterflies on the other bank.

"Soooo," Nanako began after a bit.

Chie cut her off with a glare. "Nanako, what in the world was going on with you that night?"

Several things, Nanako thought, looking up at the sky. Where did Chie want her to begin?

"For once in my life," Chie went on, "I found myself agreeing with Yosuke—that you were crazy. I mean, I want to save everyone, too, but calling us all there past midnight in the middle of a raging storm, and then splitting up the team like that? Fighting without you, it was the worst thing we've ever had to do."

"So I've heard," Nanako murmured.

"Can you imagine it, Nanako? The four of us fighting powerful Shadows that we'd never seen before, without you there to guide us?"

Nanako could imagine that pretty easily, actually. The four of them had been exhausted from being woken up in the middle of their sleep, confused by the urgency of the call to arms, and uncoordinated when fighting without her direction. She imagined that Yosuke had taken the lead, if Chie hadn't. With how angry he'd been at Nanako and the whole situation, he wouldn't be easy to work with. The team would trip over each other following his orders, and he didn't have the ability to switch Personas on the fly and cover the others' backs as she could.

"When we finally got to Kubo, and his Shadow came out and began to tear us to pieces... Nanako, we can't do that again. We can't." Chie's hands were curled into fists on her jean shorts, and the look on her red face said that this wasn't a plea.

Chie was quiet now, waiting for a response. Nanako took some time gathering her thoughts, trying to figure out what would be the right answer. After taking a deep breath, she said, "You have every right to be angry at me, okay? I'm not even expecting forgiveness. You know I haven't spoken with Yosuke at all since then? You can be like him. I promised I wouldn't bother him again. Ever. So he's not working with me anymore, no longer part of my crazy schemes. I can make the same promise to you. Never bother you again."

Chie opened and closed her mouth. Despite her frustration with Nanako, quitting the team apparently hadn't been an option she'd even considered.

"Yeah," Nanako continued. "I'm serious. I know better than to split up the party again, or go on my own like that. We'll take it slow and careful from here on out."

"But Yukiko would still be part of your schemes, so she'd still be in danger," Chie pointed out, and now it was Nanako's turn for her mouth to fall open, because she hadn't mentioned Yukiko at all, and Yukiko shouldn't be relevant to the discussion.

Nanako shifted hesitantly, almost imperceptibly. "I told Yukiko that, too, you know. That I'd put her in danger. That you were right to be angry with me about it."

"You talked to Yukiko...?"

"Yeah!" Nanako declared, rising to the topic. "And do you know what she said? She said she went there that night because she wanted to! It was by her own damned choice. If she didn't want to be there, she wouldn't have come. It was her choice. Not mine."

"Well, _yeah,_ " said Chie, rolling her eyes. "Of course she makes her own decisions. But they're influenced by you!"

"She hasn't once let me in the hot springs," Nanako pointed out. "Are you sure about that? You're the one who tried to stop her from coming to my out-of-the-hospital party. Do you know what else she told me? She thinks you're coddling her! She thinks you're no better than the boys at school! Is that what you want?"

Chie was staring at her, wide-eyed.

Nanako breathed heavily. "Because... because this shit is all my fault, you think I don't know that?" She grabbed Chie by the front of her shirt and leaned in close. "Mr. Morooka died and then I had the perfect chance to murder the piece of shit who killed him, a once in a lifetime chance, that's why I went there that night in the middle of the storm! But now Yosuke thinks I'm not worth the trouble, and you think I'm just going to put you in danger again, and Teddie is DEAD!"

Her grip slackened and she lowered her gaze to the stone they were sitting on, continuing in a much quieter voice. "Teddie is dead. Mr. Morooka is dead. I almost died, and you all almost died, and yet it will never be enough to compensate. But now I find out that not only did I hurt our friendship beyond repair, it's also making you two, who've been friends and girlfriends before I even arrived, fight? I can't do anything to fix this but talk to you, Chie..."

She hardly noticed her vision going blurry, but some tears fell from her eyes onto the pier, darkening the gray stone where they fell.

"If you want to, you can hate me forever," Nanako murmured. "I... I'd understand. But please don't let my fuckups ruin everyone else too. Don't try to bully Yukiko into siding with you. I don't care which side she's on! I just want it over!"

After a few beats, Nanako let go of Chie and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.

"That's... that's not what it's like," Chie said very quietly. "I'm not bullying Yukiko."

"Do you want to bet?" Nanako replied, her voice coarse. "Call her up right now. Let's ask her."

Chie hesitated. Her face had lost much of its color.

"Why not?" Nanako goaded. "We're talking about her. She deserves to be included."

"I don't bully her," Chie repeated. "And we're not f-fighting..."

"How long has it been since you've called her, and what was the last thing you said to her?"

The other girl frowned while she thought about it. Then she was pulling her phone out of the pouch attached to her belt and calling up her friend.

It took several rings, but of course there were many reasons a girl whose arm was in a sling could take some time to answer. Nanako tried not to read too far into it.

"H-hey, Yukiko!" Chie said way too loudly. "Heyyy, how are things? How's your arm? Oh... you're working? W-well, I'm here with Nanako. Yeah, that's right. Nanako. She's telling me that we're fighting or something, how ridiculous is that! I mean, sheesh! We're—huh?" Her eyes unfocused as she listened to Yukiko say something, and the frown on her face returned. "What are you talking about? Look, Yukiko, I'm only trying—Hey, I'm talking now!"

Observing the growing argument, Nanako began to gnaw on her lower lip, peeling up loose skin. She was helpless to intervene; she'd only make matters worse.

If that was possible.

"No, you shut up!" Chie shouted into the receiver. "You don't wanna hear it? Well I don't wanna hear it either! What? Hey! Don't you hang up on me. I'm not done talking yet!" She moved the phone away from her ear to look at the screen. "She hung up on me."

Nanako tasted metal as the lip she was worrying began to bleed.

Chie stared down at the phone for over a minute. "Oh my god," she whispered. "We... we really are fighting..."

She slouched back, her gaze fixed unseeing at the clear sky above them, and she didn't respond when Nanako murmured her name.

* * *

[8/14: Sunday]

"'At your Junes,'" Nanako mumbled while sifting through a bin of bargain swim trunks at the store in question. She was beginning to get discouraged. She held up a pair of trunks with a particular cartoon kitty design. Close, but not quite...

Someone's fingers drummed against her back. Nanako turned her head to see Saki in her apron. Soon the girl was kissing her.

Saki pulled away after a moment. "Don't tell me Kanji-kun lost his speedo or something."

"Nah, I'm shopping for Souji-kun," Nanako explained. "Skinny dipping's great, but there'll be other people at the beach, so..."

"So," Saki echoed. "You're looking in the wrong bin. The one you want is over... here." She turned down a nearby aisle and motioned for her to follow. Saki led her all the way to the back of the store.

The bin in question had been shoved into a corner, possibly because someone had feared for their masculinity due to it: it was piled high with eye-searingly pink and purple items. Nanako met Saki's eyes from the other side of the bin. She nodded. Together they moved the bin until it was out in the open, where it belonged.

Then Saki held up a shiny black speedo from the bin with the words 'cutie pie' depicted on it in hot pink text.

"I love you," Nanako blurted at the sight. The speedo was as perfect as those triceratops hair clips.

Saki fluttered her eyelashes before turning her attention back to the speedo. "But do you want the pink or the purple one?"

"Both," Nanako decided, just in case she needed another for Yuuta. He'd had a wardrobe malfunction at the river, so maybe he needed something tighter. She hadn't planned on inviting Yuuta to the beach trip, but maybe she should. Oh god, the two boys could be 'cutie pie' twins. After that thought, she had to shake her head to clear it. "Uh, speaking of beaches, you're coming with, girlfriend."

"That sounds nice," Saki said. "'Girlfriend.' Oh, and the beach, too. When are you going?"

"Tomorrow! I'm surprised my aunt acted so quickly. I was expecting to be back in school before she took any time off to go on a trip."

"Ohhh, so it's a family beach trip, huh?" Saki's voice had a playful lilt to it. "I'd say that it'll be nice to meet your family, but I kind of already met everyone."

"You haven't met my mom!" Nanako pointed out. "She'll love you. I'm sure of it. It's too bad she won't be back in Japan for months and months... But if we're still together then, she'll so want to meet you."

"Should I be afraid?" Saki teased. "Your dad was frightening enough."

"And yet you stood up to him for me as if it was nothing. He'll probably remember that. He's like an elephant. He never forgets. But my mom... Hmm, she's..." Nanako thought hard about it for a moment and then announced, "She's a lot like me!"

"Then I'll definitely be afraid," Saki quipped. Nanako batted her playfully with one of the speedos. "Your mom's overseas, right?" Saki continued on a more serious note.

"Yep, on a piano tour. She's the best pianist in the world!"

"Do you play?"

Nanako paused, a longing look overtaking her face. "...Yes."

"See! We're this close," – Saki draped arm around her and pulled until they were cheek to cheek – "and yet I'm still learning new things about you!"

"Do you..." Nanako swallowed. "Do you wanna see me perform?"

"Who'd say 'no'?" Saki responded.

Nanako smiled. The school was likely closed over the summer break, but... she was sure there'd be a way to visit the music room.

Another Junes employee walked by, and Saki decided to clock out for the day to hang out with Nanako. They went to the food court and sat at the long table that was the DEATH Squad's secret headquarters—not out of any team spirit, but simply because it was the only table with a canopy to shade them from the hot summer sun.

Saki brought out her lunch, a commercially-packaged bento, and began to eat from it. "I don't trust the food here," she commented, "but I don't have that much choice."

"Employee discount too much to ignore?" Nanako asked, teasing.

"The discount isn't that much," Saki reported, "although I suppose it adds up. You know, when I first started working at Junes, my mom would make lunch for me. She was proud that I was responsible enough to get a job." She paused with a reminiscent smile that suddenly turned down. "Of course, that was before she knew the full extent of Junes' effect on our store's business. I gotta buy my own lunch now."

"I'm sorry, Senpai."

Saki rolled her shoulders in a shrug. She held up a piece of carrot in her chopsticks. "Want some?"

Nanako opened her mouth to say, 'No,' but Saki had already poked it into her mouth. Nanako bit down on the chopsticks in punishment, blushing despite herself.

Saki tugged them out of her mouth, a playful expression on her face. Then her eyes unfocused as she spied something in the distance. "Look, we have entertainment."

Nanako followed her gaze. Yosuke was cleaning off a table at the far side of the food court. He was wearing a hair net and a Junes apron. His headphones were on over his ears.

"Hana-chan always works the food court," Saki commented. "And always on cleaning duty."

"Can't let a girl suffer in this godawful summer sun," Nanako murmured. She rubbed her forehead and her fingers came away slick with sweat. And they were sitting in the shade! With the sun as bright as it was, it was hard to believe how rainy yesterday had been.

Rain... She wondered if Yosuke had watched the Midnight Channel last night.

As if hearing her thoughts, Yosuke turned his head in their direction and noticed them looking at him.

He stared. They stared. It was a stare down.

And then he rolled one of his shoulders as if stretching out a kink in it and turned back to cleaning the table.

Nanako continued to stare.

Saki nudged her. "Want me to talk to him?"

"No."

Saki narrowed her eyes.

Nanako sighed. "Come on, Senpai. Let's just go."

* * *

Nanako decided to walk Saki home. Who knew? Maybe she'd be invited to her senpai's room again.

Or maybe she'd kinda push her way in without an invitation... Saki was giving her flirty looks while they walked down the central shopping district.

And then Nanako's step faltered, because she spotted Marie standing right outside the Velvet Room door. The sight was simply too unexpected.

Saki caught her arm. "Did you trip?"

"Err," said Nanako, and Saki followed her gaze. When Saki looked back at her questioningly just a few moments later, Nanako realized that she couldn't see Marie.

Now there was a neat trick. The girl stood out like a sore thumb with those white-and-black striped socks and that red plaid skirt that was definitely not part of any local school's uniform. She'd fit right in if she was in Tokyo, but sleepy Inaba was a whole different story.

She couldn't ignore Marie, not after what happened with Teddie, but Saki was, well, more important at the moment. She waved at Marie with an 'in a minute' gesture and proceeded to finish taking Saki home.

She returned to the Velvet Room door muuuch more than a minute later. She carried a blank notebook that she'd borrowed from Saki. Marie didn't have to know that it wasn't the reason she'd taken so long in coming back. Heh heh.

"Are you finally going to show me around town?" Marie asked when she approached.

"It's way too hot for that," Nanako said, fanning her flushed face. "We're totally going to write poetry instead. You wanted to learn haiku, right? Come on, let's go." She took out the Velvet Room key and opened the door before Marie could protest.

Igor didn't react when she plopped the notebook down right on the table in front of him. Margaret, on the other hand, had on an offended look, like she'd just witnessed Nanako carve her initials into the table with a pocketknife.

Ignoring the old bat, Nanako proceeded to teach Marie how to write haiku. It wasn't as easy as she'd expected.

"The first line is five syllables. If you don't know how many syllables a word is, just count how many times your jaw moves to say it. You can even hold your hand under your chin—just like Igor's doing right now!"

Igor continued not to react. Nanako was both disappointed and impressed.

"The blackness of the deep," Marie began.

Nanako shook her head. "Too many syllables! Try again."

"But..." Marie scowled down at her paper.

"'Shadows darker than,'" Nanako prompted. "Now continue from there!"

"This is too restrictive!" Marie complained. "I don't like it."

"I guess your pathos just isn't screaming hard enough," Nanako said, waving a hand dismissively.

"MY PATHOS THUNDERS!" Marie cried.

"Aaand that's five syllables! See, it's easy!"

Marie blinked at her. "Huh, so it is." She glared down at her notebook and began to write with apparent passion, occasionally staring up into space while she thought of what words she wanted to use.

"Are you quite sure, dear guest..." Margaret began. Nanako glanced at her, and that distasteful look on her face was absolutely beautiful. "...that you aren't going to perform a fusion today?"

Nanako pretended to think about it. She dearly needed to improve her arsenal, but not today. She was trying to establish a social link here!

"What rhymes with 'thunders'?" Marie mused.

"It doesn't have to rhyme," Nanako informed her. "In fact, I don't think I've seen a haiku that rhymes. Though I suppose it can be done."

Marie huffed at her.

"By the way," Nanako added, "you don't have to follow the 5-7-5 rule if it's too hard. You can do them 5-8-5, or 4-7-4, or whatever, as long as the first and last match. So it's actually less restrictive than you think!"

"That table is for fusions," Margaret went on, her voice as cold as Jack Frost's body.

"Yep," said Nanako. "And Igor's tarot card readings. I bet if this table could talk, it would have a lot of stories to tell." She brushed her fingers along the velvet blue tablecloth. Who made the table? How many guests had it seen? How much brandy had been spilled on it? Did it ever get bored, and did it ever rate the guests' sexiness to pass that boredom?

Across the table, she saw movement. Igor had just shifted in his seat. She raised an eyebrow at him. His enigmatic smile seemed knowing.

"'Blunders,'" Marie said. "That rhymes with 'thunders.' But it doesn't have the oomph that I'm looking for."

Nanako considered it for a moment, then suggested:  
"My pathos thunders  
over a dozen blunders."

"My heart it plunders?" Marie finished, a questioning look on her face.

Nanako leaned her head back, impressed. Maybe Marie had some talent after all!

"Fusions," Margaret repeated.

"We're fusing words," Nanako told her. "That has to count."

Marie stretched. "This is boring," she said, stifling a yawn. "That wasn't fun at all. I want to see what's outside. Take me out."

"Not today," Nanako said, briefly wondering whether anyone would even see Marie with her outside, though she was already crazy so it wouldn't be a big loss if she looked like she was talking to herself... "I have a hot date!"

She'd told Saki that she'd 'be right back,' after all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wanted to end the chapter with the Yosuke scene, but we haven't seen Marie in a very long time, so!
> 
> By the way, is there anything you want to see? Comments help the creativity flow! I haven't made as much progress writing for this story over the past month as I would have liked :(
> 
> Next Chapter: Cutie Pie  
> The beach trip! Fun in the sun for everyone.  
> (Well, maybe not everyone.)


	40. Cutie Pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for some relaxation at the beach.

[8/15: Monday]

Nanako zipped up the duffel bag on the dining room table and then surveyed the living room, running through a mental checklist. Boxed lunches, drinks, beach towels, a roll of toilet paper, lip balm, first aid kit, emergency cash... That was pretty much everything. Right now Aunt Seta was out getting gas for the car, and Saki had gone with her to get some extra sunscreen and a few cheap pairs of sunglasses for everyone at the convenience store. When they got back, it'd be about time to go!

"Souji-kun!" she cried as a thought occurred to her. "Where's Foxie?"

The gray-haired little boy stopped playing on the floor with Yuuta to stare at Nanako with his eyes wide. "Sh-she's safe... in my room."

Nanako set her hands on her hips. "What's she doing there? You know she wants to go to the beach! Isn't that right, Yuu-chan?"

The other little boy deliberately looked away from Nanako. "D-don't call me that," Yuuta muttered.

"Isn't that right, Yuu-chan?" she repeated. The boy in question blushed, and then Souji giggled. The betrayed look on Yuuta's face in response to that giggle was almost too much. "Go get her, Sou-chan!"

Now Souji was blushing, too, but with delight rather than embarrassment. While he rushed to his room to collect Foxie, she considered how much he'd changed since she'd first met the lonely hermit boy. Not so much a hermit anymore, eh? She hadn't invited Yuuta on the beach trip. That had all been Souji's doing.

The boy soon returned with Foxie in his hands. Nanako packed the plushie nice and safe in one of the duffel bag's side pockets.

Kanji wandered in from outside the house. He wasn't wearing a shirt. In fact, he was wearing only a black speedo. Nanako stared, mostly because she was still upset with him and Saki for changing into their swim clothes while she'd been busy helping the boys change in Souji's room. She'd wanted so much to peek!

"Everything packed, Senpai?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," she murmured breathlessly. Perhaps noting the direction of her gaze, Kanji shuffled to the opposite side of the table. She frowned—now the table was totally blocking the view!

"Want me to take that outside?" he asked, picking up one of the duffel bag's straps. He noticed a stray string coming from the strap and began to inspect it.

"Go for it," she said, and she watched Kanji closely as he lifted the bag over his bare shoulder and strode outside with it. She grinned, mostly to herself.

"Kanji-san isn't a cutie pie..." Souji observed.

"He totally is, Sou-chan!" Nanako declared. "It doesn't have to be written on his speedo." She smiled fondly down at her cousin. He was wearing an oversized shirt that came down to his knees. At the moment, no one could see the amazing piece of swimwear he was wearing. Yuuta was also wearing clothes over his swimwear—shorts and a shirt.

Nanako couldn't wait for them to get to the beach.

Speaking of swimwear, the door opened and Saki came in. She was wearing a turquoise bikini that made something in Nanako's chest go doki doki. If Kanji was to stand next to her, she wouldn't know what to look at.

Nanako herself was wearing her sunshine bikini. Saki looked her up and down slowly, and Nanako ran her fingers down her body flirtatiously and then stuck her tongue out. The two girls hadn't seen each other in their swimwear until now.

"The car is gassed up and ready to go," Saki reported when the teasing was over. "Are you?"

"Damn right," said Nanako. "Sou-chan, Yuu-chan, do you need to use the bathroom before we go?"

After ensuring the boys were completely ready for what was potentially a long trip, she led them outside and locked the house. Kanji and Aunt Seta were chatting together by the car, she noticed, like there was nothing weird about that, especially considering that Kanji was only wearing a speedo.

"Tomorrow Ma wants me to help out Kujikawa-san down the road," Kanji was telling her. "The old lady's doing some spring cleanin' or something."

"It's a little late in the year for that," Aunt Seta observed. "It's supposed to be very hot tomorrow. Be sure to stay hydrated, Kanji-kun."

"Y-yeah, I will," he promised, scratching his head rather sheepishly at the woman's concern.

"Now," Aunt Seta said briskly, turning to face Nanako and the boys with her. "Are we ready to go? Kanji-kun, please close the trunk."

"Yes, Ma'am." He closed the car's hatchback, slamming it on accident, and the car rocked a little from the impact. "S-sorry," he said when Aunt Seta raised an eyebrow at him.

Without further ado, Aunt Seta opened the driver side door and made herself comfortable in the car. Nanako grinned wickedly. Now came the fun part: deciding who was going to sit where.

"Might be better if I ride shotgun," Kanji suggested. "Would give me more leg room, y'know?"

Nanako shook her head. "You're in the back. We're all in the back."

"Err... Senpai, that's five of us," he said slowly, as if pointing the fact out to a child about to throw a tantrum. "Not much room for all of us."

"We're all in the back," she repeated. "It's waaay more fun that way."

"Seta-san?" Kanji tried to appeal to a higher authority.

But Aunt Seta pretended not to hear, even though the driver side door was still open; there was no way she couldn't hear. Possibly she was holding a grudge from his treatment of her car.

"Kanji-kun, you go in the middle," Saki ordered. He stared at the two girls for a long moment before going in without complaint. At Nanako's urging, he put on the seatbelt. Nanako took the seat to his right; since she still had trouble hearing out of her right ear, it didn't seem wise to have that side facing her friends. Saki then took the seat to his left. It was a tight fit with the children settled in their laps, but they managed somehow, and soon they were on their way.

A few minutes later saw them moving down an empty tree-lined road. There were no buildings in sight; they'd effectively left Inaba in the dust. Nanako wondered idly how long it would take for the car to come across another car, and was surprised to find a truck suddenly passing them. She wasn't being fair to the sleepy town, was she? The road intersecting the north end of the central shopping district saw lots of traffic during the day, even if the shopping district itself never saw a car go down it.

"So how was first term?" Aunt Seta asked to strike up a conversation while they traveled.

Saki looked determinedly out of the window; it hadn't been good for her. Without a window of his own nearby to look out, Kanji kind of stared ahead, apparently lost in thought. Nanako didn't have an easy answer, either.

And then Souji volunteered, "I like school."

"Lucky you, kid," Kanji said, his mouth twisting. "I only just started going back because of Nanako-senpai."

"It sounds like there's a story there, Kanji-kun," Aunt Seta observed.

"Err," he muttered. "Yeah, she kind of told me we couldn't hang out if I didn't go, so... I don't like it, but I'm trying, y'know?"

"You don't... like school?" Souji sounded awestruck, as if the idea was as foreign as the TV World. "A-all my friends are there."

"Don't have any friends in my class," Kanji went on. "And no one in my class wants anything to do with me, so I won't make any new friends. Not that I want much to do with them, damn bigots." There was a pause as his words sank in. "Err, sorry for that, didn't mean to swear..."

"Aunt Seta can swear with the rest of them," Nanako said. "Don't worry. It's nothing Sou-chan hasn't heard before."

"I don't swear that much, young lady," Aunt Seta protested. "Some aspects of my husband wore off on me..."

In the rear-view mirror, Nanako saw that Aunt Seta now wore that sad smile she always had on during the rare instances in which she spoke of her late husband. Nanako was about to say something, but Saki beat her to it. "You did too have a friend in your class, Kanji-kun. My brother."

Kanji shook his head. "Nah, we weren't in the same class, but... You're right. We were friends." There was a heavy silence for a moment. "You just made me think of this one time Naoki needed help moving some shipment that arrived at the liquor store. Needed some muscle, y'know, so I volunteered to help him get it all in the back. I'm taking a breather after that, Mr. Morooka comes in the store, sees me lounging there, and, well, you know how he was." He glanced at Nanako, who wasn't offended at all. She knew. "He starts ragging on me, but then Naoki comes out from the back, and he... he tells him off, even though he got told off himself, both by Mr. Morooka and by his pa later for talking back to a customer."

"'Look at you, sitting there like you deserve booze!'" Nanako said, imitating Mr. Morooka's harsh and grating voice. "'You think you've got problems?'"

"That's totally what he said, Senpai!" Kanji exclaimed.

"'You're too damned young to have any sorrows to drown, you layabout!'" Nanako began to laugh. "Okay," she said in her normal voice. "I can't keep that up."

"If your teacher really sounded like that..." Aunt Seta was shaking her head.

"He was definitely something else," Nanako said. "Hmm? Oh." Her phone, wedged in the small compartment built into the car's door, buzzed from a text message. She pulled it out, pinching a finger in the process because she could only reach with one hand, what with Souji in her lap. "What's the beach we're going to, Aunt Seta? Shichiri Beach?"

Aunt Seta glanced at her in the rear-view mirror. "We're actually going to go a little past that. The sand at Shichiri is a bit too rocky."

"Do you know what exit it is? Yukiko needs to know."

"You should have invited her to carpool with us," Saki remarked while Nanako was relaying the information.

"I did!" Nanako claimed. "But she told me she had a ride. Sometimes she's no fun."

No fun... Hmm, that sounded more like Chie, actually! Nanako had invited her on the trip, too, but the girl hadn't responded to her texts.

Aunt Seta began to talk a little bit about the beach they were going to. Apparently she had some fond memories of it, so nostalgia was a main factor in why she'd chosen it. While she talked, Nanako began to sneak her hand behind Kanji's back. The boy felt it, she could tell, but he was pretending not to have noticed. What a cutie. It wasn't long before she found the waistband to his speedo. But when she tried to get her fingers under there, Saki slapped her hand away and gave her an inscrutable look.

Nanako wrinkled her nose at Saki, but then she was distracted by a rumbling sensation against her belly—Souji was speaking. "You're not supposed to drink water from the ocean," he said.

"It's pretty dirty, Sou-chan," Nanako said, "when you think about it. Lots of animals live in it."

"N-no, it's not that," he said, looking up at her with his adorable gray eyes. "But it's got... lots of salt. It's bad for you. Umm... Takeyoshi-kun would know more about why..."

"Too bad Ta-kun couldn't come on the trip!" Nanako said. "He could sit in Kanji's lap."

Kanji didn't looked thrilled by that idea. His gangly legs were really cramped as it was—the middle seat had the least leg room. He was going to be sore when they finally reached the beach and got out of the car.

Which wouldn't be too long from now, apparently. Aunt Seta drove the car down the next exit, and soon they were in civilization again. It wasn't a huge city or anything—Nanako pegged it as a tourist destination due to all the sea-themed restaurants they passed.

She looked outside the window when the car was stopped at a stoplight and nearly jumped in surprise. Right on the intersection was a Velvet Room door. And Marie was standing outside of it.

The car began to move, and soon the Velvet Room door was out of sight. That had been pretty weird, but she guessed there could be more than one entrance around. There were already two entrances, what with the one at the TV World backlot. It was something to ask Igor. Funny how she always seemed to forget all these questions she wanted to ask about the Velvet Room as soon as she entered it...

A pinch against her thigh made her really jump. "Hey!" she cried out. She looked and saw that Saki, leaning behind Kanji's back, had tugged on her bikini bottom and then let it go so that the elastic had snapped against her skin. Now Saki's fingers were rubbing against the sore spot as if to apologize. Nanako wasn't mollified until Saki pushed Kanji forward until he was squatting so that she could lean over his back and give Nanako a kiss.

They missed each other at first—it was difficult to keep one's balance in a moving vehicle—and Saki fell against Kanji's back. The boy didn't complain, just bore the treatment without so much as a sigh, and then Nanako twisted as close as she could to the other girl, her head tilted sideways, and finally Saki managed to plant the kiss in the right place. Nanako murmured in appreciation. The kiss didn't last very long—it was just too difficult to stay bent that way. Sometimes Nanako really hated seatbelts.

When she returned to a more normal position, Souji giggled at her. "B-big sis, you k-kissed her!"

She glanced at Yuuta. His eyes were wide, and he began to shift in Saki's lap. "Girls aren't supposed to kiss girls...!" he said.

"Who told you that, huh?" Nanako challenged. "I know for a fact my dad kissed a boy—err..."

Aunt Seta was giving her a strange and unreadable smile through the rear-view mirror.

"Honestly, Nanako," said Saki. "I don't think there's anything I wouldn't believe about your family."

"Whaaa," Yuuta emitted.

"Senpai, be careful," Nanako said. "I think his brains are leaking out of his head."

Saki put her hands over Yuuta's ears and caressed them. "Yuu-kun," she murmured. "I had a boyfriend, but he didn't treat me all that well. Then I found Nanako, and... I don't think I need to say more."

"Once you go Nanako, you never go back." At that announcement, Nanako noticed Kanji eyeing her from his awkward squat. It was as much as proof. "You want a kiss, too, Kanji-kun?" she asked.

"Senpai..."

Souji twisted in her lap. "I-I want a kiss..."

Nanako chuckled and kissed the top of his head with a loud smack. He giggled, and Yuuta glowered in jealousy, though he looked away and pretended not to care.

"Can..." Kanji began. "Can I sit up now? Only my back's startin' to..."

"Don't worry about it, Kanji-kun," Aunt Seta said. "We're almost there."

Nanako looked out the window and found that they were turning into a parking lot. Aunt Seta rolled down her window and paid the attendant, and a short time later they pulled into a parking spot.

* * *

The beach was crowded—it was summer, after all—but Nanako and the crew were able to claim a space of their own. They set up a big beach umbrella (sadly neither Loveline themed nor pink) and laid beach towels down on the sand under it. They unpacked the cooler, the duffel bag, and a couple of lawn chairs. Aunt Seta claimed one of the chairs and sat down on it with a book in her hands. Wearing that navy one-piece, she looked like a typical mom. It wasn't likely that she was going to get up anytime soon.

When everything was set out, Nanako ordered Kanji to sit down so that she could apply sunscreen to his back. He obeyed with only a small sigh of resignation. While she was teasingly kneading the skin about the nape of his neck, Saki came up behind her and began to apply sunscreen to the small of her back. It felt cool and refreshing and also tickled. After giggling, Nanako grabbed the bottle and handed it to Kanji, ordering him to apply some to Saki so that all three of them would be rubbing sunscreen on each other at once.

"Now that is one inefficient way to put on sunscreen," a critical voice interrupted. "But leave it to Nanako..."

Startled, Nanako stood up too fast, tripped over her own feet, and fell right into the sand. "Ch-Chie!?" she managed.

"Haha," said Chie. "Are you all right?"

"What are you doing here?" Nanako asked before she could think about it.

Chie scratched her head. "W-well, you did invite me, right...?"

"Well, yeah! But I wasn't sure if you..." she trailed off, because Yukiko had appeared at Chie's side. Nanako glanced from her to Chie, and then back again. The girls were wearing the same swimsuits she'd bought them for the camping trip, which was flattering, but more importantly, had they made up? They weren't holding hands, but they were standing kind of close, though not that close.

"Yeah," said Chie. "Yukiko made me come."

"She made you come?" Nanako raised an eyebrow.

Chie nodded. "Yep, she made me come."

"Say it again," Nanako requested.

"She made me—Nanako!" Chie protested, blushing spectacularly. "That's not funny!"

"Heh heh."

Nanako felt some measure of relief. If Chie was okay with a little teasing like that, maybe things were okay between them!

"S-so," Chie rushed on to change the subject. "Souji-kun, you still need sunscreen, right? Don't let the grown ups hog it all!"

"I... I do, Chie-san," Souji admitted. "And Yuuta-kun, too." He began to struggle with taking off his oversized shirt until Yuuta helped him out.

When it was off, Chie stared at his shiny black speedo, and then she covered her mouth with a hand, hardly suppressing the loud snort she emitted. Yukiko, too, began to giggle, and Kanji covered his face with a hand. "C-cutie pie?"

"It's only the truth," Nanako declared. "Right, Auntie?"

Although Aunt Seta didn't look up from her book, she was wearing an indulgent smile.

"But you haven't seen the best thing," Nanako went on. "Yuu-chan! Take those shorts off."

Yuuta obeyed, and soon his matching speedo was revealed. Souji's was the one with purple text, because of course Yuuta's had to be the pink one.

"Cutie pie twins!"

"They're adorable!" Yukiko exclaimed, holding her hands together in delight.

"I don't even want to know how you found those in their size," Chie remarked.

Nanako only giggled.

After ensuring the boys were liberally sunscreened up, it was time for some fun in the sun. Nanako looked out at the vast and somewhat overpopulated beach, wondering what they should do first. There were people playing volleyball nearby—they could probably join in their game if they wanted. Maybe later.

Without warning the boy, Nanako picked Souji up—ugh, it was a good thing her bruises were healed up, because he was heavier than he looked! She carried him down to where the ocean met the shore. After she shifted him a little bit in her arms, he was looking at the sea with her.

It was quiet for a moment, and then she asked, "Have you seen the ocean before?"

"I don't remember..." he murmured.

She set him on his feet. He wiggled his toes in the wet sand.

"It squishes," he observed.

"Come on," she said. She took his hand and walked him into the surf. He was startled when the water crashed against his ankles, but she steadied him, and soon he was smiling and kicking at the water.

Yuuta joined them, followed by Saki and the rest of the gang. It didn't take long for Souji to get so comfortable with the ocean that he was chasing the surf as it rolled in and out.

"He reminds me of Muku," Yukiko told Nanako. "Chie's dog," she explained further.

"Chie has a dog?"

Yukiko nodded. "It's how we met several years ago. I found the puppy, but my family wouldn't let me keep him, and Chie found me crying about it. She ended up convincing her parents to keep him."

"That's... adorable!" Nanako cried. "You totally need to tell me more about what you and Chie were like when you were little!"

Now Yukiko was smiling rather sadly at her. "Maybe," she said, and Nanako realized that maybe the two girls hadn't completely made up.

"Bosssss," Yuuta whined, interrupting the conversation.

"What, Yuu-chan?" she asked, changing gears.

"I gotta use the potty!"

"Just use the sea," she told him. "You know how many fish pee in it every day? It's not a big deal."

"Bossss," he whined again. "That's gross."

You're a boy, you're supposed to be gross, she thought, but as a boy, he was also not supposed to like the color pink. She frowned at herself for thinking that way. "All right. Sou-chan, do you have to..." She trailed off because Souji was totally having a good time with Kanji—the little boy was on the older boy's shoulders as they walked into the sea. She didn't want to interrupt that. "All right, Yuu-chan, let's go," she revised. "Saki-senpai, come with me?"

The two girls walked together, Yuuta strung between them. He'd resisted holding Nanako's hand—"I'm a big boy!"—but Nanako just grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go until he relented. She didn't let go when they arrived at the bathrooms, instead forcing him into the girls' bathroom with her so that she and Saki could keep an eye on him. There were too many strangers around to let him into the boys' bathroom alone, truth be told, and Saki agreed.

Yuuta was allowed to use the toilet on his own, at least. While waiting for him to do his business in one of the stalls, Saki hopped up on the bathroom counter, right next to the sink. The height difference put her a little too high for Nanako to kiss, which was a bummer. It didn't stop her from putting her arm around the girl's back, though.

When Yuuta came out of the stall, he stared at the two of them, and then glanced determinedly away. She could tell his discomfort wasn't just because he was in a girls' bathroom.

Saki could tell, too. "You want to talk about this," she told him.

"I don't..." he began. He scowled down at his feet. "You're both girls..."

"That's right," Nanako replied. "Does it bother you?"

"It's... it's weird..." he said slowly. "I've never seen it before. Aren't girls supposed to like boys?"

"Some girls like boys," Nanako explained. "But some girls like both boys and girls. And others just like girls and that's it."

He stared at the bathroom's dirty tile floor for a long time, apparently processing that. Finally, he looked up at Nanako. "Wh-which one are you?"

"Honey," said Nanako. "It depends on the time of day and who I'm around. Uh, but what really matters, Yuu-kun, is that you are allowed to like whoever you want to, even," – she leaned against Saki on the sink's counter, and Saki pulled her close – "even if other people think it's weird."

Yuuta was blushing now, and the blush didn't fade as he began to fidget by poking his forefingers together. "Boss, you said... you said that your dad kissed a boy?"

Nanako nodded. "I don't know the whole story, but my mom told me that, so it must be true."

"I don't think I could ask my dad about that," Yuuta murmured. "I don't really know much about him."

"His dad's overseas," Saki explained to Nanako.

"What, so his stepmom is also a single mom? Sheesh... Hey, Yuu-kun, I didn't know that much about my dad either until I moved here. He was just my dad, y'know? Not really a person of his own, just someone who was there. But I'm learning more things about him now. Like, I just learned he used to skinny dip when he lived in Inaba!"

"Oh! We did that, at the river!" Yuuta said.

"Yeah, though you did it by accident! Please don't lose your speedo in the ocean, okay?"

"I-I don't think I will," he said, looking down at it and tugging its waistband.

"C-come on," she said. "Let's go back." A group of loud college-age girls had just entered the girls' bathroom, so it was time for them to clear out.

They returned to their little spot of beach to find Souji and Kanji playing with a green frisbee. The little boy wasn't a very good thrower, nor catcher, as it turned out. Not a sports-minded kid! When the next throw sailed right over his head, he eagerly chased after it.

The sight of Souji having so much fun filled Nanako with such joy that she began to kiss Saki. Her senpai matched her enthusiasm and soon it was hard for either of them to breathe.

"Wh-wh-whoa," Chie stuttered. "I didn't know you two were..."

Yukiko tittered. "Oh, Chie, you're so blind!"

"H-hey," Chie protested, putting her hands on her hips.

"But it was the most obvious thing...!"

"Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta said mildly. "Show some restraint in front of the children, please."

Nanako immediately let Saki go and then panted to catch her breath, her face growing red. Her aunt had been lenient with her behavior thus far; she'd kinda expected a rebuke much sooner, Dojima heritage notwithstanding.

"Thank you," Aunt Seta said, inclining her head in a short nod.

"Y-yeah," Nanako stuttered. In the heat of the moment, she'd been halfway to undoing Saki's bikini top!

Saki nudged her playfully and then strode towards the frisbee disc half-buried in the sand. She picked it up and told Souji to 'go long!'

The boy loped along the wet sand, but tripped. Where he fell left an impression in the sand. He blinked at it, and then poked his fingers into the molded sand. "L-look," he marveled. "You can write in it..."

Nanako laughed. "Write your name, Sou-chan!"

"Me too, me too!" Yuuta cried, running forward.

"Write 'cutie pie,'" Chie suggested in a teasing tone of voice.

"I-I don't know how to spell that," Souji murmured.

"Just look down, kid," said Kanji, and everyone laughed when he did.

Because Souji was already sitting down in the sand, it was time to build a sandcastle. Nanako quickly got down to business scooping sand together, but Yukiko and Chie bowed out of this activity to make their own trip to the bathroom. Saki volunteered to show them the way, leaving Nanako with only the boys.

The castle they built wasn't particularly intricate—it was mostly a single tower with chunk cut out of the top as a makeshift roof—but it was the perfect size for Foxie. Nanako had Souji take the plushie out of its compartment in the duffel bag and place it right on top of the tower. Now Foxie could pretend she was queen. Wouldn't Princess Chan-chan be upset when she found out...? When Souji voiced this concern, Nanako assured him that there was room for more than one royal family, although Foxie would have to prove the validity of her claim. Maybe she could ask Naoto for help forging some documents.

The waves crashing against the shore drew closer and closer. Nanako and Kanji together tried to form a wall of sand to protect Foxie's new home. "Lieutenant Briefs!" Nanako cried. "We can't stop it! You'll have to take the princess and retreat!"

"I-it's okay... if I get wet," Souji murmured. "I'm already in my swimsuit. A-and I can protect Foxie... from getting wet."

Nanako shook her head. "That's defeatist talk! C'mon, Colonel Crochet, we gotta protect the base if it's the last thing we do!"

"Colonel Crochet...?" Kanji gave Nanako a strange look, but shook his head and continued to help reinforce the wall before the next wave hit.

"Lieutenant Briefs? What's that?" Yuuta asked.

"It's... me," said Souji, blushing and not looking up while he shaped some sand around the base of the sandcastle.

"Yuu-chan, you can be..." Nanako paused to think about it. "Major Carnation."

"I... I don't know if I like that," Yuuta admitted.

Souji snorted and then broke out into giggles.

"Lieutenant! Major! Prepare yourselves!"

The two boys looked towards the sea. In the blink of an eye, a large wave crashed over the barrier and splashed right over them. Part of the castle's base was washed away, leaving behind a quickly dissolving mess of sand. 

"Ooookay," Nanako said. She swiftly scooped Foxie from her perch before it completely disintegrated. The last thing she wanted was to lose the plushie to the depths of the sea! She handed it to Yuuta, who held it so gingerly that it was rather endearing. He was careful to dust off all the sand from her.

With the sandcastle gone, it was a good time for lunch. Nanako led the boys back to where Aunt Seta was relaxing and opened up the cooler, doling out the boxed lunches to everyone. Everyone? She realized that half her party was missing. Surely they weren't still at the bathroom—that had been almost a half hour ago!

"Where are they?" she muttered aloud to herself.

Without looking up from the book she was reading, Aunt Seta pointed behind her. Looking out, Nanako saw that Saki and Yukiko had joined the volleyball game. Chie was watching from the sidelines. 

While the boys ate, Nanako strolled over to Chie's side and observed the game for a moment. The ball came to Yukiko, but she hit it with a little too much enthusiasm and it went out of bounds.

"They're having fun," Nanako commented.

"Y-yeah..." Chie wasn't looking at her. She was distracted by the game. Nanako didn't blame her. There were a lot of pretty girls in it! One girl in particular was almost falling out of her bikini.

"Say, Chie," Nanako said casually. "Thanks for coming today."

Chie didn't respond to that. Nanako realized that she was focused only on one girl in the game. 

"I didn't think Yukiko would even want to play sports..." Chie muttered to herself.

Nanako decided not to bother her further, and waved Saki over during the next serve to inform her that lunch was ready. 

"Sure, I could use a bite," Saki said. 

Sweat was trickling down Saki's brow, and when she wiped it away, Nanako found her mouth watering. It wasn't from hunger. Heh heh.

"By the way," Saki said while they walked back to Aunt Seta, "you're right. Amagi does have nice legs. I noticed during the game."

"Nicer than mine!?" Nanako stopped in her tracks to strike an offended pose. 

Saki answered by raising an eyebrow. In a fit of pique, Nanako pushed her until she fell onto the sand and then pounced on her after that. 

"Big sis, w-what are you doing?" Souji's voice asked.

Nanako glanced up to see that he and Yuuta were watching. "It's tickle time!" she declared. 

"Noooo," Souji wailed, and he took Yuuta by the hand and ran away from the scene, giggling all the way.

Saki snorted under her. "What a smart kid." 

"He's really ticklish," Nanako said. "But I wasn't even gonna tickle him. You're my victim!" She set her hand on Saki's belly, intending to tickle her, but suddenly it grumbled under her hand. 

Maybe it was time for them to actually eat lunch.

* * *

After a long day that included making sand angels, burying Kanji alive in the sand, and a babe hunt that didn't involve any actual babes (it had just been Nanako's nickname for sea shells), the sun was going down, and it was time to go home.

Chie and Yukiko had left a little while earlier to catch the bus; apparently that had been their ride to the beach. When Nanako had suggested they could ride home with everyone, Aunt Seta kindly reminded her that her car already didn't have enough seat belts for everyone.

And speaking of the car, Aunt Seta didn't want any sand in it, so everyone had to get changed into clothes they'd packed earlier. Since the bathrooms were kind of far, Nanako suggested they get changed right there. "We'll hold a towel up for privacy!"

It was, of course, a ploy to peek at her friends—not that she hadn't already seen all of them before, to be perfectly honest.

Nanako grabbed a towel and aired it out, asking Saki to take the other side. They held it by the car to provide a sort of barricade.

Aunt Seta changed first. Nanako averted her eyes, because that wasn't who she wanted to peek at! To her disappointment, while she was looking away, Kanji had changed without even bothering to use her towel-curtain, thoroughly defeating the purpose. Now he was helping Yuuta and Souji change.

She sighed, and then noticed Saki giving her a playful look from the other end of the towel.

"Alright, which of you girls is next?" Aunt Seta asked. "I'll take your spot."

Nanako handed the corner of the towel to her and went behind the makeshift barrier. Since Saki was watching, she ran her fingers down her body first and then slowly undid her bikini top.

"Get on with it, please," Aunt Seta said, her fingers splayed over her face in apparent exasperation, but she was simultaneously rolling her shoulders in suppressed laughter.

Nanako bit her lip and then quickly finished putting on her shirt. With Aunt Seta watching, Saki didn't mess around, either, and soon everyone was changed. The beach umbrella, lawn chairs, towels, and cooler had already been packed, so it was time to go.

Kanji quietly asked if he could take the passenger seat this time. Nanako almost denied him, but since he was looking pretty exhausted by now—those two little boys had worn him out!—she relented. It would give the rest of them much-needed room to stretch out in the back seat. Souji yawned widely when she put the seatbelt over him in her lap, and Yuuta kept rubbing his tired eyes. They'd certainly be going right to bed when they got home.

The only noise in the car as it pulled out of the parking lot was each of its passengers stifling their yawns. Nanako rested her head against Saki's shoulder, cuddled her dozing cousin in her lap, and blinked her heavy eyes. She dully noticed the blue-tinted glow of the Velvet Room door outside the car's window as it stopped at a stop light. Why was it there...? She sighed heavily to herself, too tired to think about it.

Kanji began to snore in the front seat. Nanako smiled to herself. "It was a good day," she whispered, and she barely registered Saki's arm wrapping around her as she, too, succumbed to sleep's siren call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to personally thank everyone who left comments over the past month. You don't realize how much it means to me to know people are looking forward to reading this. I ended up getting past the writer's block that I'd had for an upcoming scene, and I'm sure it was because of your encouragement. Now things are going smoothly (knock on wood!) and we've written up through 9/16 or so. I'm very, very excited for upcoming stuff!
> 
> Next Chapter: Ringo Ame  
> Nanako meets Yuuta's mom, Marie finally goes outside, and Naoto faces the memories of her kidnapping. It's also time for the summer festival!


	41. Ringo Ame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer break is already half over. It's time for the summer festival!

[8/16: Tuesday]

"Come on, come on," Nanako said, tugging on Yuuta's hand.

"I-I can go home on my own," the boy pleaded, but Nanako shook her head.

"Nuh-uh! I wanna meet your mom."

"Bosssss," he whined, but he finally stopped struggling, and they walked hand-in-hand down the street in front of the Seta residence. Since they'd come home so late from the beach, he'd stayed overnight with Souji. Naoto didn't mind the company, especially when it turned out the two boys could easily share Souji's futon with some room to spare.

Nanako didn't exactly know where Yuuta lived, so the boy had to guide her. There was no way she was going to let go of him now. She remembered how he'd run off on his own last time, leaving her in the dust. She would not be bested by a little boy again. No way.

"So, Yuu-chan," she began conversationally. "How's progress on the cutest plushie front?"

"I made a bear! It was round and the ears are really big and..."

"I want to see it!" Nanako said. "Hey... what's Sou-chan making? He wouldn't tell me."

Yuuta gave her an alarmed look, like he couldn't believe that Souji was hiding something from her. "Uh, umm..."

"You know what," she told him. "Nevermind. I just hope it's lots of pink!"

Now the boy was smiling at her. Then the smile faded and he tugged on her hand to indicate that they should turn down the next street. They walked down it some until Yuuta stopped. He emitted a long sigh. "It's this one..."

Yuuta's family had such a nice house! Nanako was impressed by it. It was way bigger than Aunt Seta's place. It even had a fenced-in back yard. The scent of chlorine came to her nostrils. Was that a pool!?

She was totally gonna swindle an invite if she could manage it. What better way to follow a beach party than with a pool party?

She rang the doorbell, ignoring how depressed Yuuta looked. He really didn't want to go home, did he...?

They waited a while but there wasn't an answer, so she rang it again. Finally the door opened, revealing a young woman possibly in her late 20s or early 30s. What Nanako noticed first was that she really needed bangs to cover her forehead.

"Minami-san?" Nanako inquired. "I've brought Yuu-chan home!"

She glanced down at Yuuta and found him determinedly not looking at his step-mom.

The woman sighed. "Ah, thank you. Was he good?"

Now Yuuta glared up at her, and then away. Nanako felt a tug on her skirt and realized he was clutching the hem of it in his fist.

"Yuu-chan is a cutie pie," Nanako reported. "Can we come in?"

"'We'?" Minami questioned absently. "Well, I suppose so..." She opened the door further and invited Nanako into the living room, where the TV was on to some soap opera. "Yuu-kun, you can go to your room."

Yuuta couldn't get away from them fast enough.

"Aren't you going to ask him about his trip?" Nanako asked. "Don't you want to know if he had fun?"

Minami gave her a puzzled look. "Even if I asked, he wouldn't answer. He hates me."

 _Have you tried to make him not hate you? Or are you okay with the status quo?_ Nanako frowned as she pondered how to continue the conversation. "He's just a kid," she said. "I don't think he hates you. Do you want him to?"

"Of course I don't want him to," Minami said, "but there's nothing I can do. I've tried. He won't talk to me if he can help it."

"Do you wanna talk to him?"

"I don't know. I'm just so tired of it all. His father—my husband—just threw him onto me while he's working overseas. I feel cheated. I didn't even know he'd had a son until right before we got married, and there wasn't any time to get to know him." Minami wrung her hands, and Nanako marveled at how she'd open the floodgates and got her to talk without even trying.

...Maybe Minami hadn't talked to anyone outside of the house in a while.

"It's been over six months now," Minami went on, "and I think it's too late, even if I wanted to. He'll never think of me as his mother."

"You're giving up way too easily, Minami-san. What you need to do is—"

"But that's the way it is," the woman continued as if she hadn't heard her at all. "I saw a show on TV that went just like that. One of the characters was a doctor, so it must be true."

"What you need is," Nanako tried again, but she paused because the polite look on Minami's face was all-too-familiar to her. It said that the woman was only pretending to listen. Nanako bit her lip in determination. She'd been planning to say that they needed to take some time and talk to each other heart-to-heart, but she decided in that moment that a different approach was required. "What you need is a pool boy!" she declared, lifting a fist into the air.

Minami's big brown eyes imitated a strobe light. "What?"

"You're bored," Nanako explained. "You miss your husband and sit around all day being a bored housewife and watching crap television. A hot, shirtless pool boy with just the right amount of hair on his chest is what you need to break you out of this listless funk."

The woman was giving her that familiar 'Did you really just say that?' look. Now that she had her attention, Nanako continued on a more serious note.

"Seriously, woman. You actually believe everything you see on TV? How old are you?" Nanako shook her head. "And don't you think this sucks for Yuu-chan, too? It's not like he wanted his dad to abandon him. I'm sorry you fell in love with such a winner, but—"

Minami interrupted there, her forehead covered in wrinkles of anger. "It wasn't love. I—"

She stopped herself, her face still contorted in a frown. Nanako glanced around the room and noted the TV so large that even Junes didn't sell any in that size, along with a large lucky cat statue, a blue-and-white Ming vase, bottles of liquor high on a shelf...

"You got money, right? All the more reason to hire a poolboy." Nanako nodded. "And why does this big ass house only have one TV? Buy one for Yuu-chan's room or something! It doesn't have to be half as big as that one. Or at least stop watching that crap so he can have SOME cartoons. The kids make fun of him at school because you don't let him watch Featherman! How sad is that? He's just a kid."

The woman looked flustered now, and instead of waiting for her to break out into a rage, Nanako left the house with some final words: "And I think you'd look better with your hair down. Might wanna note that for pool boy seducing 101."

* * *

[8/17: Wednesday]

Nanako came down from her room to find Naoto at the tea table, resting her head on top of a closed laptop. She wasn't asleep; her eyes tracked Nanako's movement, but she didn't get up or even greet her.

"Uh, are you all right?" Nanako asked.

Naoto sighed. "Yes and no. I believe it's about time I went through this." She lifted her head and stared down at the closed laptop. "The police have relinquished it to me. Everything seems to be intact... including my camera's video surveillance feed."

The detective wasn't looking at her. "I'll watch it with you," Nanako offered.

"Thank you," the detective said simply.

Nanako sat right next to her friend as she awoke the laptop from sleep mode. Silently, Naoto used the trackpad and clicked through different folders until she found the videos. There were several files from the day of her kidnapping. The camera in her apartment only began recording when a motion sensor was triggered, meaning Naoto herself sometimes triggered it. Some of the files, then, weren't of interest to the case.

Naoto hesitated before opening the fourth one. Nanako saw her expression turn grim, and then the video was playing.

The video started immediately with a man in a blue-collar uniform entering Naoto's apartment from the front door. His face was covered with an indistinct mask. His height and weight seemed about average, and the uniform had no name tag on it nor any sort of brand logo.

It didn't seem like he had forced the door at all—in fact they watched him pocket a key. "He used a spare stolen from the maintenance room," Naoto explained without moving her eyes from the screen, her voice a soft murmur. "If I'd known this complex's security was so lax, I'd have requested to live elsewhere."

"Y-yeah," said Nanako distractedly. The man on the screen seemed to give the apartment a once-over from the doorway. Most of the apartment could be seen from the camera's angle; the apartment wasn't a large one. He stared for a bit at Naoto's small TV before ducking into the side room and out of the camera's sight. Naoto confirmed that it was her bedroom when she asked, and both of them shuddered.

The feed ended there; without motion, the camera would time out after a few minutes of inactivity.

Naoto opened the next clip. In it, Naoto was coming home from her day at the police station. She hadn't noticed anything out of place. She'd set her things down on a shelf—a coffee thermos and an umbrella—and then gone over to her laptop.

It happened so fast after that. While she was focused on the laptop, the man came out from the room he'd been hidden in, a cloth in his gloved hand, and stealthily grabbed Naoto from behind, putting the cloth over her mouth. The detective hardly had any time to act before the sedative took effect.

Watching the scene unfold, Naoto began to tremble next to Nanako, who felt sick to her stomach. She couldn't imagine what her friend must be feeling. She put an arm around her and pulled her close, rubbing her back in sympathy. Naoto muttered something, but she couldn't catch it.

In the video, the man slung the unconscious detective over his shoulder and took her outside the apartment and out of the camera's sight. Eventually the feed ended.

It took a long while for Naoto to speak. "The TV in my apartment isn't large enough to fit through," she murmured.

Nanako brought out her phone. "Can you get the timestamp for me? I'm going to check when the GPS gave me the last signal that night."

It turned out that Naoto had been thrown into a TV less than three minutes after the end of the video feed.

"Kanji-kun's right," Nanako said. "He has to have a big TV that he travels with. It has to be in his truck."

"We're so close," Naoto murmured. Her voice was scratchy. Probably her throat had tightened while watching the video. "But no one who'd bought a TV at Junes also owned a suspect truck. The culprit must have obtained a TV elsewhere."

"Damn," said Nanako. "It was a good try... But this one is more than a good try! Can you zoom and enhance?" Naoto snickered despite herself, and Nanako grinned at her before continuing on a more serious note. "Maybe change the saturation? If we can narrow down his height and his build, we can get closer to identifying him."

"The police have already given me their report," Naoto said, bringing forth a manilla envelope, "and I'm sure they've already scoured as much information as they can from the video. However... I haven't read the report, and I wonder if what we can determine will match up."

"Let's do it," Nanako said, and in that moment, she almost felt like Loveline again.

* * *

Some time later, Souji came out from his room. His gray hair was disheveled from sleep.

"Well, well!" Nanako said. "Sleeping beauty finally woke up. Still tired from our trip to the beach, are we? Too much sun for our Sou-chan!"

Despite all the sunscreen she'd slathered on him, he was a little bit sunburned. A ring of red encircled his neck, and the tip of his nose was peeling.

"I'm itchy..." he complained. He had his hands under his shirt and was rubbing his upper body.

"Poor baby," Nanako cooed. "Shirt off, honey. You weren't so bad yesterday..."

And he wasn't that bad today, really, considering how long they'd been out in the sun. "Big bro," the boy said. "Do you have more... lotion?"

"I'll find some," Nanako began, but then her eyebrows scrunched together. "Wait, 'big bro'?"

Souji wasn't looking at her, but across the living room to...

Naoto stood up from the tea table. "Yes, of course," Naoto said, and she moved past Nanako into the kitchen and picked up a bottle of aloe vera lotion from the counter. Nanako noted that the detective's cheeks were a smidgen pink, and that she was smiling faintly, and that's when Nanako realized that it wasn't actually the first time Souji had called her 'big bro.'

Nanako cursed herself for missing that precious moment!

She helped Naoto dab the lotion onto Souji's sunburned skin. 'Big bro,' huh? She wondered if that had been Souji's idea and decided it had to be. Naoto would have corrected him if she didn't like it.

"Take it easy, Sou-chan," Nanako said, resisting the urge to pat him on the back. "We don't have anywhere to be until Saturday. That's when the summer festival begins. We're going to have a lot of fun! I wonder if your mom will be able to come with us. If not, that's okay. You've got me and Saki-senpai and Shirogane-san, too, if you want to come with us."

"Umm..." said Souji, looking up at her earnestly. "Big sis, umm..."

"Yes, Sou-chan?"

"I-I want... umm... can..."

Nanako waited patiently for the boy to gather his thoughts and the courage to speak them.

"Adachi-san," he finally said. "He couldn't come to the beach. D-do you think... he could come to the festival?"

"Adachi-san," she repeated. She couldn't imagine the detective would want to hang out with a group of teenagers. Nor did she really want him to, considering what he knew about her breaking into Junes...

But, she further thought, if Aunt Seta was able to come to the festival, he could go with her and Souji, just the three of them together, and it could be like a date. Did Aunt Seta have a yukata? She had to! Would she wear it for him...?

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Naoto remarked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Hmm?" Nanako replied absently.

"The look on your face, Nanako-san. It was quite devious."

"Big sis...?" Souji was still looking at her with muted anticipation.

"I'll talk to your mom about it," Nanako promised, the grin on her face far more than simply devious.

* * *

[8/18: Thursday]

Nanako entered the Velvet Room and immediately asked Igor why she'd seen a door in a nameless beachside town.

His only answer was, "DEAREST GUEST blah blah blah mind games blah." There might've been a 'special' or two in there too.

Nanako didn't care that much, to be honest. She had other business to attend to. Mainly: Marie.

Without warning, she grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her out the door.

"Hey—" Marie protested, but the complaint was cut off abruptly when they were outside. The girl's eyes were wide as saucers as they followed the path of a bird flying across the clear blue sky.

Come on, Nanako thought. I know you've been outside before.

Marie recovered from her surprise to scowl. "Huh, I thought you'd never take me out of that blasted room."

"Well," Nanako replied, "I figured that since I had a social link with Margie—" Nanako paused for a fraction of a second as she sensed it, her Empress link growing restless, as though it might break at any moment. Damn that woman... "With Margaret," she corrected fluidly, "I'd probably have one with you, too."

"So you don't actually care? You just want the power?" Marie seemed suspicious of her. That being said, she was spot on.

"Yes," Nanako answered, "but I am kinda curious about you too, Marie. I mean, what's it like living in the Velvet Room? Does Igor ever eat? Is he going out with Margaret? Is there a bathroom in the limo? Which brandy is Igor's favorite?"

"...You're weird," Marie said, and she wouldn't answer any of the questions, no matter how much Nanako insisted. "If you don't care, then I don't want your help."

"That's fine, link over, but you don't care about me much either, do you? It's the same." Nanako crossed her arms and sighed. "If I went out of my way to help out every old lady crossing the street, I'd never get to the stuff that actually matters."

"The stuff... that actually matters?" Marie repeated slowly. She seemed to be thinking deeply about something, but then she started clutching her head in pain. Nanako was pretty sure she had seen this in an episode of Loveline, but she decided to politely ignore it and, feeling rather defeated, took Marie by the hand to the shrine, because why the hell not.

They were walking uphill when Marie spoke up again. "This place feels familiar to me, but I can't remember... It bothers me."

"Maybe you used to live in a small town before the limo tried to run you over but missed and the driver decided to kidnap you instead."

"Don't say weird stuff like that!" Marie demanded, and Nanako pretended to notice that the girl hadn't sounded out the word 'kidnapped' before saying so. "I don't think that's it."

"I wonder if the limo is in another world like the TV World. Would explain all the fog outside the windows," Nanako mused.

The one time the fog had gone away, she'd been too angry to pay attention to what was outside. Hindsight was such a bitch.

Marie shrugged. "A TV World sounds fun... I wanna watch a lot of TV. Take me there!"

Nanako took in Marie's appearance again: the striped stockings, the plaid skirt... "I bet you'd have a fun Shadow."

Marie looked down at the ground and pointed to her shadow. "What's fun about that?"

"Well, you can make shapes and stuff." Nanako made a rabbit shadow with her hands. "See?"

Marie made a bird. Nanako made a lewd symbol and then Marie said this was boring, do something fun.

"There's nothing more fun than this!" Nanako proclaimed. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Old...? I'm..." Marie clutched her head suddenly and cried out in pain. "I'm, I'm...!"

Okay, enough was enough.

"It was just a simple question, Marie, geez. You don't have to spazz out or anything."

When the girl didn't stop, Nanako decided to show a little concern for a change, even though her thoughts were really on the question of why every social link had to be so weird and poignant.

"Nooo! I can't remember and it hurts if I try. It's all your fault! Don't ask questions like that!"

"Okay then," Nanako said.

"I wanna go home," Marie grumbled. "This place sucks."

You suck, Nanako thought. "Don't say that," Nanako said. "I have to live here!"

She was trying to lighten the mood, but since Marie didn't take the bait at all, she decided to walk her back down to the Velvet Room. Inside, Margaret asked if Marie had enjoyed herself, but before she could even finish her question, Nanako shot her a glare.

"Oh, you know exactly what happened."

Margaret raised her eyebrow, clearly amused at the accusation.

"We do not possess all knowledge, my dear guest..."

"Igor, I love you, but I was there, and so far you've known exactly what happened every time I've been somewhere! You keep making thinly veiled references to my life, and at this point I wouldn't be surprised if you were up to date on my porn reading schedule."

Now her Empress was offended. Nanako still couldn't win against her glare. Damn it, all that delinquent training for nothing! She didn't give up, though, and quickly veered the subject into another direction.

"So what's up with her memory anyway? Did you guys take it? Why?"

If Margaret's eyebrow rose any further it would fly off her head and into the fog.

"Dearest guest," Igor interrupted whatever his assistant was about to say. Oh, his voice was so dreamy... "Marie's past is shrouded in fog, even to myself."

"Huh. Would you say she's special...?" Nanako asked, but Igor merely chuckled. She wouldn't tolerate a rival! Or maybe she would. A rival could be good for business. Nanako shook those silly thoughts away and said, "Well, next time I'm gonna bring her to a doctor. It's a date, Marie."

"No!" the girl shouted, though at least she didn't seem to be in any pain this time.

"It's a date, Marie."

"I'm not going to the hospital."

"You don't even know what a hospital is!"

"I do too! ...Oh!"

Marie took a notepad out of her bag and started scribbling frantically. Nanako walked over to her and she didn't even notice, though Margaret certainly did. Igor, too. If she wanted to, she could just... sort of reach over and... touch his nose...

"There!" Marie said, making Nanako jump.

"That was fast. Is it a poem? Read it for me."

"No, this is a private journal!"

"Marie, I spend my weekends watching a show about a magical detective solving mysteries with the power of love or whatever. I once dressed my little cousin with a bra on his head and no pants to play some make-believe stuff. I can handle some bad poetry."

"Y-you did what with your little cousin...? Wait, my poems aren't bad!"

"Then prove it!"

"Fine!

Dressed in pure snow white  
Blind to the disease in their  
Sorrowful mad eyes."

There was silence in the Velvet Room, but Nanako was pretty sure time hadn't stopped just yet. When she finally found her voice, it was with a big smile plastered on her face.

"It's a haiku, like I taught you! And it's a good one too! Yeah, your poetry is not bad at all."

"I told you! Umm... I mean... Shut up! I hate you! Go away!"

"Okay, fine, I'll go, but here's a haiku of my own, especially to you:

Tsundere princess  
Surrounded by sweet brandy  
Unable to drink."

Nanako got out of the room before seeing her reaction, but she was pretty sure she heard something beating against the Velvet Room door—from the inside.

Marie wasn't that bad after all!

* * *

[8/20: Saturday]

"I picked this up for you, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta said, holding up a bright yellow yukata. "I'll help you put it on."

Nanako was almost speechless as she surveyed the yukata in the standing mirror in Aunt Seta's room. It appeared to be tailor-made just for her. It was loose on her body and so short that it didn't even go to her knees. The sash was a paler yellow than the yukata, which helped draw attention to her midsection.

It was totally sexy. She'd have to wear it over to Saki's sometime.

And Souji had a yukata, too! His was pink with a white cherry blossoms pattern... wait, that was a jinbei actually, she hadn't noticed the cute little shorts! He looked so huggable that she simply couldn't resist wrapping her arms around him even though it loosened her sash. She'd been pretty enthusiastic about letting him go on a date with Adachi-san, but now she wanted him all for herself!

Souji giggled. "Do you like it, big sis? I went with Mama and she had them made for us..."

"Only the best for my baby," Aunt Seta announced, standing proudly in her own white yukata.

When had they done this? Nanako wondered. It took time to make these things, so it couldn't have been too recently...

Aunt Seta had even obtained geta for them to wear. It took Nanako a few tries to remember how to walk in them. Souji wasn't provided a pair, and when Nanako asked, her aunt answered that for his own safety, sandals would do just as well for him. Besides, he had a really cute pair of sandals with little animal shapes stamped into the leather sole.

There was a knock on the door, and since Nanako nearly tripped again trying to move out of the room—short steps! Not her normal bounding strides—Souji ran ahead to answer it on his own. Aunt Seta grinned fondly after him, and when the door opened, there stood Adachi, wearing the same suit and pants set he always wore.

"What, no yukata?" Nanako complained with feigned offense.

"Like I can afford that on my salary!" Adachi said, shaking his head. He then smiled shyly down at the little boy looking up at him. "Uh, hey, little fella! You look ready for a fun day. That's a good color on you."

Now Souji was grinning. "It's Yuuta-kun's f-favorite! I hope... we see him there."

"One of your little friends, eh? Oh, Ryoko-san..."

Aunt Seta stepped forward and greeted him. Nanako tried to gauge Adachi's reaction to her yukata. The man seemed to be impressed, but it was hard to tell. _Dazzle him, Auntie!_ Nanako willed. _You've got a whole day with him. Make it count!_

"You can stop in for a moment and we'll have some tea," Aunt Seta invited, "or we can simply head on out."

"We can have tea any time," Adachi said, which wasn't really true considering how busy he and Aunt Seta always were. "If you're ready, let's go. I think Souji-kun wants a Topsicle."

"A Topsicle...?" Souji repeated, his eyes growing wide.

"Yeah, I'll get you one. That won't break my bank." Adachi emitted a low chuckle.

"Coming, Nanako-chan?" Aunt Seta asked. "You're welcome to join us."

"Huh? Oh... No, I told a friend to meet me here, so..."

Aunt Seta raised an eyebrow as if to question her intention to be home alone, but then nodded at her. "All right. If you'd like to watch the fireworks with us, please call me later."

"S-sure," she said. "Have fun you two, and Sou-chan!"

Since he was already outside, in lieu of hugging him again, she waved at Souji, and he smiled and waved back. "Bye bye, big sis!"

Once the door was closed, she turned her back on it and proceeded to hug herself. She probably should've gone with them—she could've easily called Saki and met up with her at the festival—but she didn't want to get in the way of whatever was going on between her aunt and the cabbage detective. Though it could be cute to see it unfold in front of her eyes, hehe...

She played around with her phone for a bit, but the cracked screen only made her antsy.

Not long later, the doorbell rang, and it was Saki. Nanako let her friend in with a somewhat strained smile.

"My my," said Saki. "I wasn't expecting you to have a yukata!"

Saki was wearing one, too. The vibrant orange color made it as sunny as Nanako's own. The skirt was a little longer, but Nanako didn't complain even though it would make it harder to feel her up.

Which she tried to do right now, regardless.

"Nanako!" Saki protested with a laugh. "Wait 'til tonight, please! I do want to go to the festival, you know..."

But Saki kissed her anyway, nice and sweet and just what she needed. "Senpai," Nanako murmured as she drew away.

"Hmm?" said Saki, holding both of her hands. "You seem down. Not looking forward to the festival, or...?"

"Feeling a little lonely is all," Nanako explained. "I mean... I won't be going with Souji-kun, so... but it's a good thing! He's going with his mom and his maybe future step-dad, and he was really happy about it, so I'm happy for him and..."

Saki squeezed her tight. "I think I understand. I felt that way when I first went to high school and Naoki was still in middle. Happy and sad at the same time."

"I didn't remember to take a picture of him in his adorable yukata. You've got to see it, Senpai!" Nanako grinned, but then allowed it to fade. She heaved a sigh. "I miss my family. I mean, I know Auntie and Sou-chan are family, but I mean my mom and my dad. I've never ever been away from them for this long, and it's starting to..."

Saki hugged her.

"I still haven't called my dad, and Mom... She's just not as helpful when it's long distance. Though she's doing her best!" she added quickly, not wanting to disparage her mom. "But like, I can't tell her everything. And I used to! We were so close back in Tokyo, it's almost amazing I never included her in a threesome, heh heh..."

"I don't think a boy could survive that," Saki remarked.

"Who said it'd be with a boy?" she teased, but her voice came out without feeling. Saki just told her to drop it, so she did. "Honestly," she went on in a serious tone, "I'm more scared about my dad. I love him so much—and I'm learning a lot of weird things about him that I'm totally gonna tease him about when I go home—but I'm worrying him and I don't want him to worry, but I can't stop giving him reasons to worry. And if he doesn't hear from me soon, he's gonna know I'm just trying to keep him out of the picture, and... He'll worry even more."

"Your dad loves you," Saki murmured into her ear. "I talked to him that day I found you in the rain. After you fell asleep. He was angry, but... It seemed like the anger was directed at himself."

Nanako murmured wordlessly into her friend's wavy hair.

"He asked me a bunch of questions. Not going to lie, he's definitely a cop!" Saki laughed. "But... he seems like a much better dad than mine. Try not to hurt him, all right?"

Nanako promised that she would, and then offered to kick Saki's dad's ass. "It's the least I can do for you, Senpai!"

"I'm tempted to take you up on that. He wanted me to work today! I told him I had a sugoi booty call, and he was not amused."

"He wouldn't—" Nanako began, but she stopped because Naoto was coming out of Souji's room.

The young detective took in their yukata without a change in expression. "Oh, Nanako-san. I thought you'd already left."

"Did you see how cute Sou-chan looked?!"

Naoto nodded. "I took the liberty of taking a truly inappropriate amount of pictures, and hope you will continue my legacy at the festival."

"That's my man!" Nanako declared, cheering up immediately.

Saki looked Naoto up and down: the detective was wearing sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. "Taking it easy today, are we?" Saki asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think I've ever seen you so under-dressed. I see living with Nanako has rubbed off on you."

"Indeed," Naoto replied. "I'll change when I go to the police station. I wasn't expecting to be seen by anyone until then."

"You're not coming to the festival with us?" Saki's lips turned down. "You should! And you'd look great in a yukata."

"I don't dislike traditional clothing," Naoto said, "but I don't have such a thing to wear at the moment. I must apologize for dashing your dreams."

Nanako watched the exchange with a grin growing on her face. The two were getting along just fine! Maybe they _could_ live together at some point.

"Konishi-san," Naoto began.

"Oh, please call me Saki," the older girl said.

"Saki-san," Naoto said, not batting an eyelash. "I'm not surprised that you and Nanako-san are associates."

"Compatriots," Nanako corrected.

"You could say Nanako is my boyfriend," Saki added.

Naoto's lips curled up—that was a smile! "I see. As a princess can be a prince... I was wondering about her association with you, since she seems to visit you fairly often."

"Th-there's not always a mystery!" Nanako said, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Now the detective began to chuckle. "I'm not suspicious about everything," Naoto said, "but it's in my nature to be curious. Forgive me."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Saki remarked in a teasing tone.

"But satisfaction brought it back," Naoto replied, again without missing a beat. "The truth is its own reward. I believe wholeheartedly in that."

"I meant that I'm sure you don't want to know what Nanako and I get up to during those visits," Saki further explained.

"In the same way that you don't want to know what she and I get up to?" Naoto countered, raising an eyebrow.

Nanako coughed in surprise at Naoto's affected innocence. "Sh-Shirogane-san!"

They all chuckled at that, and then Naoto emitted a forceful sigh. "Unfortunately, I have a meeting to attend. Please enjoy the festival in my place."

"All right, see you later," Nanako called when the detective returned to Souji's room presumably to get changed.

"I want to get to know that guy better," Saki remarked.

"If you're thinking we could have a threesome, it won't happen," Nanako informed her. "Despite what he suggested, I haven't been able to get into his pants at all!"

Saki's head swung back in disbelief. "Really? I'm impressed with his resistance."

"I think he might be married to his job. Anyway, Senpai, let's get this sugoi booty call started!"

* * *

The festival took place at the Tatsuhime Shrine, and it was a bit of a let down, in Nanako's eyes. There were quite a few game booths, but not very many people. Although the sun shone oppressively hot, there was a cool wind, so that wasn't much of an excuse. Besides, several stands sold ice cream and other cool snacks to ward off the heat.

"Is there, like, another festival in Okina or something today? Geez," said Nanako. "Is it always this dead?"

"People have been kind of afraid to go out," Saki explained. "What with the murders and all. I doubt the liquor store will get much business from this, despite whatever my dad seems to think."

"Oh... I thought it was the small town being small again." Nanako sighed.

"At least it's easy to meet up with people. Hey!" Saki waved to two girls standing near the shrine's offertory box.

It was Chie and Yukiko. The former wore a white yukata with an orange sash and orange decorations. What, not green? Nanako thought, raising an eyebrow. And Yukiko wore a dark blue yukata with white designs and a pink sash. When she stepped out of the shade, the blue looked more purple instead.

"Yo," Nanako greeted. "Time for our double-date, eh?" She latched onto Saki's arm and hugged it.

"Double-date?" Chie repeated uneasily, and then she glanced at Yukiko, who was giving her a surprisingly foxy look. Yukiko then hooked her arm under Chie's. She looked proud of herself, and Chie was totally blushing.

It was adorable. Nanako was so glad to see they'd made up.

"So whatdya wanna do?" Chie asked. "You girls hungry? Souzai Daigaku is selling their Super Croquettes and it's not even raining!"

"Might be too messy to eat in yukata," Nanako murmured. "I could do with some ikayaki, though!"

They snacked out on festival fare and played a few of the games. The festival became slightly busier as the day wore on. They had some shaved ice and then the warabimochi truck came by, and Kanji had been right, its owner was too fossilized to be the culprit. Besides, that warabimochi was really good! It reminded her of Souji and she hoped he was having a good time with the adults.

And the warabimochi reminded her of something else as well...

"I haven't seen Yosuke," she muttered. "Did he skip out on the festival?" Maybe he didn't want to run into her.

"I saw Hana-chan earlier," Saki reported. "He wasn't wearing a yukata, so he stood out. I haven't seen him since."

"Don't tell me you haven't talked to him yet, Nanako," Chie said.

"I haven't, actually. Remember, I told him I'm not going to bother him anymore."

Chie looked troubled. "But... I don't see him giving up on..." She glanced at Saki, but Nanako nodded at her to continue. "You know, the investigation."

Nanako shrugged. "Maybe he isn't, and we'll just be doing things our own way now. You have his number, don't you? You can talk to him yourself."

"Huh," said Chie. "I don't even know what I'd say."

"That you understand exactly where he's coming from. But really, I don't want you to intercede with him on my behalf or anything. I've made my choices, and there's no use bemoaning that, y'know?"

"Things could've gone better," Yukiko muttered. "But they always could. That's always how it is."

"If you ever need me to, I can try talking to him," Saki offered once again, but Nanako shook her head.

She wasn't even sure whether she missed Yosuke or missed how he bought drinks for her. It was a really harsh thought, and she felt marginally guilty for thinking it. Marginally. He'd done good there at the end, using the last of his healing juice on her broken body...

She hadn't thanked him, either.

"Is that Kanji-kun up there?"

Nanako blinked out of her melancholy. "Huh, it sure is."

At the fishing booth farther down the street, Kanji, wearing a dark blue yukata with a dragon silhouette, was helping Yuuta catch a goldfish. It was a rather adorable scene, and Nanako noted how Yuuta was wearing a red yukata of his own. He was probably too shy to ask for a pink one. He was going to be so jealous of Souji's jinbei!

Eri Minami was watching them in a half-interested way. Nanako had the feeling that she wouldn't play any of the games herself, but didn't care how many her stepson wanted to play. Nanako was actually surprised to see her out here. In good news, she'd got her hair cut so that her bangs covered her forehead now.

Kanji ensured that Yuuta caught a fish and then handed the bag to the boy, who seemed uncertain as to whether to show his stepmom or not. Yeah, he didn't. They still hadn't bonded. More time was needed, maybe. Or maybe she just hadn't gotten around to Junes yet to buy him a TV.

Nanako was thinking that maybe she should go over there and force him to when she noticed Kanji turn to another boy at the booth, someone about his own age but shorter and with black hair, and leaned over his shoulder to give him advice on catching the fish. The boy nodded, and then his glasses fell down his nose, and then Kanji laughed and nudged him aside and took his net and went to work catching a fish for him.

And then Kanji and the boy walked away together, smiles on both of their faces. They were standing pretty close as they walked...

"Huh," said Chie. "I think that boy in glasses is in our class."

"I thought he looked familiar," Nanako murmured.

 _But how does he know Kanji?_ He'd always seemed a bit stuck up... Kanji-kun, with his delinquent looks, was definitely beneath his notice.

"Hmm," Nanako thought out loud. "Anyway! You girls wanna give the ring toss a go?"

After playing a few games with her friends, Nanako sneaked off because she wanted to get up in Minami's business. She caught up to Yuuta and his stepmom at the candied apple stall. Minami seemed to be trying to ask Yuuta if he wanted one without actually asking him. And Yuuta was trying to ask for one without actually asking. Really, these two were starting to get annoying.

"Yuu-chan," Nanako stated. "Did a cat steal your tongue or something? Asking really can't hurt. And don't forget to say 'please.'"

Yuuta scowled at the ground.

"Minami-san, the same goes for you. Just say, 'Yuu-chan, you want a snack?'"

"Don't make her call me 'Yuu-chan!'" Yuuta shouted. "She... she can't do that!"

"Yuu-kun," Minami murmured, her big brown eyes blinking rapidly in surprise at his outburst. Then she sighed, as if she didn't expect better from him. "Yuu... chan," she tried.

"No!" Yuuta screamed, and in a flash he bolted away from them.

Nanako immediately gave chase. "Yuuta! Get back here!" she called after him.

At least the festival being so empty meant he wasn't weaving through a crowd or anything. The yukata hampered his speed, so he was easy to follow, and Nanako, with her slightly longer strides since she was almost an adult and because her short yukata was far less restrictive, was soon on his tail, despite the difficulty in walking with geta.

The boy ducked between some booths, and she followed after him. She was so close to him now that could almost reach out and grab him. Almost, but not quite. And now he was climbing up the shrine's steps.

At the top step, Yuuta tripped over his sandals and went flying backward. Nanako swiftly grabbed his hand, but his weight unbalanced her, and she fell, too, right onto the hard stone walkway leading into the shrine. The impact made her see stars for a brief moment.

Yuuta was panicking over her. "Big sis!" he wailed.

She tried to reassure him that she was fine, but wind had been knocked out of her.

He began to shed tears. "You can't die, big sis, you can't die," he whimpered.

She pulled herself into a sitting position and patted him on the head. Seeing her get up calmed him a little, but he was still crying.

She pulled the boy to her chest with a sigh, allowing his snot to get all over the front of her beautiful yukata. "It's all right, Yuu-chan," she cooed. "I've been through worse."

"You fell so far... You could've died."

She'd only fallen from the first step. It might have been fatal if she'd landed on her head—though she hesitated to use that word considering everything she'd been through—but she guessed it must look pretty far from a kid's perspective.

Still, she smiled at his worrying. The kid cared about her that much, huh? Yeah... yeah, actually, she cared about him too.

They sat there on the unkempt floor, not knowing (in his case) or not caring (in her case) that not too far behind them, Eri Minami watched their exchange with wide eyes that could not turn away.

When the boy was returned to her, he was already asleep.

"T-thank you," Minami said, taking him in her arms for the first time.

"Don't mention it," Nanako replied, giving the woman a polite smile. She was trying.

After watching Minami walk off, Nanako rubbed the spot she'd fallen on. Another bruise, huh? Sadly, she'd long ago used up all of the cream the hospital had given her. Well, it wouldn't be big enough this time to scare Souji, so it'd be fine.

While looking for her girlfriends, she spotted Kanji with the glasses boy again. As she watched, the glasses boy held a large pastry in his mouth. Kanji didn't hesitate at all to take it out of his mouth with his own, as if they were playing that food passing game made popular on goofy game shows.

Nanako's jaw might have been dropped at the sight, then she recovered and it morphed into a grin. Kanji had good taste, that was for sure.

She decided not to bother them.

Turning around, she found Kou and Daisuke at the shooting gallery. Neither of them seemed to be doing all that well at the game. Why had they chosen one that didn't require their athletic skill in the least? She almost went up to them to show them how it was done, but as soon as she walked by, she felt something stirring in her mind.

The potential for a social link? She didn't want anything to do with that. Not right now. Not after... not after Teddie. Marie was one thing, but these were her classmates, and...

She shivered in her yukata. She'd only been to one stupid Balls Club meeting anyway. School seemed like a whole lifetime ago at this point. Hell, she'd been in the hospital on the very first day of summer break.

"Nanakoooooooo," called a voice down in the shopping distract. It was her girlfriend come to save the day!

"Senpaiiiii," she called back, and soon Saki was by her side. She almost pulled her senpai into a hug, but Yuuta's snot hadn't quite dried. Only one yukata needed to be ruined today.

"It's getting late," Saki observed. "Satonaka and Amagi headed off. I think they're going to the inn together."

"I knew it!" Nanako said. "I knew she'd invited Chie to the hot springs before."

"Hmm? You wanna go to a hot springs some time? There's one at the next train stop."

"Honey, if we leave Inaba, I might not wanna come back," Nanako told her frankly. "Don't tell me you wouldn't be tempted to really run away with me, either!"

"I've saved up some money," Saki murmured, "but not that much, really."

Nanako shrugged in her yukata. "I thought I was joking, but... now I'm not so sure." She sighed and looked at the darkening sky. "The fireworks should be starting soon, right? You're a native. Show me the best spot around here to see them."

"You mean apart from my bedroom?"

"...You're right," Nanako said. "We can make the fireworks happen anywhere."

Saki took Nanako's hand and led her down some alleys until they ended up by the flood plain. There were several couples and families already there. Some even had blankets laid down on the grass. It was a warm night, but not unpleasant now that the sun had mostly set.

They found a nice secluded corner and sat together on the grass.

She and Saki were somewhere along the way to fireworks when there was a loud cough. Nanako hastily straightened her girlfriend's yukata at the sight of Aunt Seta striding into their little hideaway.

Adachi followed soon after, and Souji was at his side. No, Souji was actually holding his hand, and the smile on the boy's told her everything she needed to know about his day at the festival.

Though he let go of the detective's hand to show her a plastic bag with a goldfish in it. "Look, look, big sis... I'm really good at f-fishing!"

"He was catching them for some of the other kids," Adachi confirmed. His eyes flickered to Saki and then back to Nanako, perhaps curious about them, but then Souji's happy giggling stole everyone's attention.

"The man said... I was a natural!" Souji's grin was so big it was almost off his round little face.

"Of course," said Aunt Seta, looking as proud of her son as ever.

Nanako grinned too and made a show of looking at Souji's fish in its bag and suggested some silly names for it.

Then a reddish hue was cast over everything in the area. A deafening boom sounded out. Souji jumped at the sound and clutched at the hem of Nanako's yukata.

The fireworks had started!

"It's loud," the little boy whimpered. Another firework exploded and he jumped again.

Nanako pulled him to the grassy ground and held him tight, hoping he wouldn't start crying. "It's okay, it's okay," she cooed. "They're loud, but... that's part of the fun."

Saki knelt before him. "They have to be loud, Sou-chan. That's the only way they can show off their pretty colors. They're like flowers blooming in the sky. Loud flowers."

"Watch, watch!" Nanako said, and she covered the boy's ears and tilted his head towards the sky.

A multicolored starburst firework exploded in the sky. Souji seemed to calm in her arms, but she kept her hands over his ears as they watched the rest of the fireworks show.

At one point, red light from a series of red and purple fireworks lit up some stray clouds in the distance. Against the backdrop of the black sky, Nanako was reminded of the spiraling vortex sky in the TV World.

I wonder, she thought, if the killer is seeing this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wouldn't say Eri Minami was my least favorite social link in Persona 4, but it's definitely low on the list. Nanako'll turn her into a better mom, though!
> 
> Next Chapter: Idle Business
> 
> Idle is a homophone with Idol, by the way!


	42. Idle Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An idol comes to town, and things get busy! Just maybe not for the idol.

[8/21: Sunday]

The festival was going on for a second day, but Aunt Seta just wanted to relax at home. As a result, Nanako decided to take Souji there herself. She was glad he'd had fun with the adults yesterday, but she'd wanted so much to spend time with him herself. Now she had her chance!

And Naoto was coming, too! The detective needed some fresh air—she was staying cooped up indoors far more than was healthy, in Nanako's opinion, either at home or at the police station. She didn't have a meeting today, so there was no excuse.

Nanako eschewed her yukata because she hadn't had a chance to clean it up after it got, well, snotted. Instead she wore a white sundress made of light cotton. Souji, though, was wearing his jinbei again because he hardly had the opportunity to wear it. And, of course, he was just too cute in it.

It was a pretty great day, nice and sunny. Maybe too sunny; she worried about Souji getting sunburned again. At this rate he was finally going to develop a healthy tan. Naoto could use it, too, really, but she was wearing her plaid pants and a long sleeved shirt despite the heat, so there was little chance of that happening.

"Soooo Souji~" Nanako trilled, her mood buoyant, "is there anything you missed yesterday that you wanted to do? Maybe... we can catch a friend for your little fish!"

The goldfish he'd caught yesterday was in a bowl on the kitchen counter at home. They'd have to pick up some fish food for it while they were out. Hmm, would the gas station sell something like that? Maybe they'd run into Izaya. She wondered what Souji would make of him. Would he be creeped out by him the way she'd been when she'd first met him?

"I want to see the master in action," she said, tousling his hair.

"I-I'll catch one for you, bis sis," Souji promised. "And... and for big bro, too!"

"I would be delighted," Naoto replied.

"Then let's do that first," Nanako said with a decisive nod. "We can always return home to put the fish in the bowl, and then come back to the festival after that!"

They turned into the central shopping district. The street was much busier than the previous day had been. Had all these people realized they were missing out and suddenly decided to come? The summer festival only came once a year, after all!

The crowd became very thick some distance away from the shrine. "U-umm," Souji verbalized. His grip on Nanako's hand became vice-like. There were too many people for him to be comfortable with.

Nanako led him to a slightly less-crowded area in front of a closed-down store. "Geez, how are we even supposed to enjoy the festival," she muttered. She couldn't see a way through the throng of people. At this rate, they wouldn't even be able to reach the shrine. "You'd think they'd put up barricades or something. Form a line or somehow limit the amount of people who can be in the area."

"I don't believe these people are here for the festival," Naoto remarked. "Observe: most of them are holding up their phones with the camera function turned on."

"Huh? But what are they trying to take pictures of?"

"Haven't the foggiest idea. The crowd is thickest at that store there." Naoto took out a pair of binoculars and looked, but her height limited the effectiveness of this method of investigation.

Nanako lifted Souji onto her shoulders and had Naoto hand the boy the binoculars. "What do you see, Sou-chan?"

"I-It's the Maru... Th-there's a sign. It says... umm..."

"The tofu shop?" Nanako asked.

"It says... they're out of tofu..."

"What a scandal," Nanako said. That definitely didn't explain the crowd! "Well, I wonder if we can go around the back and get to the festival from the northern end. Do you wanna stay up there, Sou-chan?"

He didn't answer—he was suddenly waving excitedly at the crowd. She had to grab onto his legs because he almost unbalanced himself and fell off.

"Sou-chan? Wh-what are you...?"

"Kanji-san!" he cried happily, and sure enough, Kanji was heading right towards them. He was wearing a sleeveless jinbei with a black and white shark pattern.

"Hey, Senpai!" Kanji greeted. "And Souji, and Naoto. You three tryin' to get to the festival?"

"Yeah. What the heck is going on?"

"It's Rise Kujikawa," he explained. "She's taking a break from showbiz, and she lives here, so... News got out, and now every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants to try and meet her and get an autograph."

"Or her phone number," Nanako muttered. Now that he mentioned it, the gathered crowd did seem to contain a high percentage of neckbeard otakus.

"Adachi-san... doesn't look very happy," Souji murmured. Nanako glanced up and saw that he was looking through the binoculars again.

"I s'pose he was called in for security," Nanako said. "He doesn't look very intimidating, though. I think it's the hair. I'm sure there are better guys at the station for this kind of job. Don't you think so, Shirogane-san?"

"The Inaba PD does seem shorthanded," Naoto replied. "Or perhaps he volunteered."

"Maybe they offered him a pay bonus."

Kanji scratched his head and glanced at the crowd. "If you wanna get to the shrine, I could maybe clear a path for you. People like to stay out of my way."

"Your tattoo is missing!" Nanako pointed to his left shoulder. "I don't know if people are gonna think you're all that tough without it."

Kanji looked sheepish at having to admit it was a fake tattoo all along. "With all that racket everyone was makin', I forgot all about that..."

You're such a sweetie, Nanako thought. "I think," she said, "that..." She paused with a frown, considering the crowd. "We'll just go have a picnic instead. Is that okay, Sou-chan?"

Souji nodded and handed the binoculars back to Naoto. Yeah, they didn't need to fight with the crowd. There were plenty of other things they could do on such a nice day!

Cicadas were chirping in full force at the flood plain's picnic table. Naoto sat with Nanako and Souji, and Kanji sat across from them—Nanako had invited him along. After taking everyone's orders, she called Aiya for delivery and wondered how Aika would get through the crowd at the shopping district.

Although Nanako had called and invited her, Saki couldn't skip out on her responsibilities to her family today. With all those people around, surely someone would stop by the liquor store and buy some booze. Regardless, Nanako decided to order her girlfriend some surprise delivery too. "Could you put a note on the order? 'Thanks for a truly sugoi booty call' and draw a winky emote at the end! Yep, yep, that's perfect!"

"I won't even contemplate what that meant," Naoto commented dryly after she'd hung up. Kanji, too, had pink cheeks. Nanako just stuck her tongue out at both of them.

While waiting for the food, Nanako asked for more information about Rise Kujikawa. "If there's a crowd like that, there's no doubt she's going to be on the news," she said, raising her eyebrow to pass a significant look at the two DEATH Squad members present at the table.

"The timing seems suspicious," Naoto agreed. "But if she is taking a break from the entertainment industry, she is leaving it just in time for the second term of school."

"Will she go to Yasogami?" Nanako wondered.

"Probably," Kanji said. "She'd be a first year, like me."

"Huh," said Nanako, thinking. If she was going to be on the news, she'd be on the Midnight Channel, no doubt about it. She was totally going to be the next target. Nanako would have to check the weather report as soon as she could and try to figure out when it would rain next.

"School starts next week," Kanji remarked. "I mean, not this week, but the week after."

School... Nanako stopped thinking for a moment, because it reminded her of Mr. Morooka. She shook her head to clear it. "So soon, huh... Sou-chan, are you excited to go back? I think you haven't seen Takeyoshi-kun in a while! You can show him your plushies. Oh, we can bake cookies for you to bring in on the first day. Would you like that?"

Souji looked up hopefully. "D-dinosaur cookies?"

"Of course," she promised, hugging him.

"Naoto," Kanji said. "Do you go to school...?"

"I have outside arrangements for my education," Naoto replied. "If I did attend school, I would be in your year, Kanji-san."

"Huh... So... you're my age?"

"He's my age!" Nanako corrected. "Sorry, Kanji-kun. You're the baby in the group. Minus Sou-chan, of course!"

Kanji looked dejected. "I'm really the youngest?"

Who was the oldest? Since Yosuke wasn't part of the group anymore, that label fell to Chie.

"Age is just a number," Nanako said with a sagely nod. "I mean, Aunt Seta is much older than Adachi-san, but I don't think that's stopping either of them."

"Adachi-san," Naoto repeated. "The man at the tofu shop. Come to think of it, he's often present during meetings at the station, though I've not interacted with him beyond that. You say he is courting your aunt?"

"More like the other way around. You'd know if you stuck around on Wednesdays!" Nanako teased, but the detective merely nodded.

"I did hear his voice yesterday," she mused, and seemed to have more to say, but a glance at Souji stopped her. That was probably for the best. Nanako didn't want to explain the basics of a booty call to him until he was at least thirteen.

"Big sis," he said suddenly, his face screwed up in thought. "What's c-courting mean...?"

 _Oh shit,_ Nanako thought. "A-Adachi-san used to be really lazy," she said hastily, "but I think he's been getting better because he has someone to impress!" She tickled Souji's sides until he was giggling. "Isn't that right, Sou-chaaaaan? He's your friend now~"

"S-stop it, big sis!" he wailed, flailing his arms.

"That Adachi guy leaves me alone," Kanji said, after he finally closed his agape mouth. "Just like all the other cops, really. But if the little guy likes him, I guess he can't be all bad, yeah?"

Nanako paused in tickling her cousin, thinking about how Adachi knew about the Junes break-in. Should she tell them...? No, it would be better if they didn't know. It was personal, between her and the detective. And definitely not in front of Souji, anyway.

Naoto cleared her throat. "Returning to the topic of school... I have been negligent in my studies. I've been considering enrolling in the public school."

Both Nanako and Kanji perked up. "What, Yasogami High?"

"I could be another ear to the ground, so to speak. It would be useful for me to to be assigned the same class as Kujikawa-san, if your suspicions are correct."

"It would make gathering the Squad together a bit easier," Nanako mused.

"And I'd be close by if you need me, Nanako-san." Naoto's small smile was determined. "A voice of reason, perhaps?"

Was Naoto saying she wanted to keep an eye on her during school? Nanako would have been flattered if it wasn't for the awful truth that she really did need someone to do that.

Who was she kidding? This was Shirogane—she was flattered anyway!

"You should definitely consider it," Nanako declared. "It'd help you bond with the rest of the gang, too. Which you're going to have to do, you know. Souji's met all my friends. It's your turn, now."

"We've certainly got off on the wrong foot," Naoto murmured. "I hope we'll be able to get along."

"Everyone's... n-nice," Souji contributed. "And... and you're nice, so..."

"Yeah! We can bond over how cute my little cousin is!" Nanako cuddled him, though underneath the action she was wondering about her use of the word 'bond.' The DEATH Squad was a social link, after all. She wondered if it was broken, or damaged somehow, now that Yosuke had left, but decided that probably not. Mr. Morooka was still...

Nanako shook her head.

Maybe her Fool social link was one of those spider things. How did it go again? What mattered was keeping the head alive? She chuckled to herself. Some head they had to deal with.

Her cousin began to wriggle out of her grasp. "What's the matter, Sou-chan?" she asked.

"It's partner...!" he said. "Can I... can I say hello to him...?"

"Partner?"

She looked towards the road beside the picnic area, and sure enough, Yosuke was walking along it. He was heading away from the shopping district, possibly towards Junes. She wondered if he'd heard the news about Risette. He was a fan, wasn't he?

More importantly, did her promise not to bother Yosuke extend to Souji? The way the boy was looking so hopefully up at her tugged at her heart. She relented with a sigh. "Yeah, you can go talk to him. But don't bother him too much, okay?"

Souji gave her a hug before hopping off the bench and running after his 'partner,' who seemed quite startled to be suddenly accosted by a six-year-old.

Nanako was too far away to hear their words, but Yosuke definitely glanced at the picnic table and saw the three of them there. He didn't wave or anything, and neither did Nanako.

To his credit, Yosuke didn't try to shrug the boy off or otherwise ignore him. Instead, he walked him to the river and they sat on the grass and apparently began to talk.

"I really don't get it," Nanako muttered. "Yosuke never seemed the type to be good with kids."

"I'm sure myself and Kanji-san gave off a similar impression," Naoto said.

"True enough, 'big bro,'" she conceded. "Souji-kun really hit it off with Yosuke though, and it's kind of weird. They've only seen each other maybe three times? Maybe it's the hair."

"There could be worse influences on your cousin." Naoto was smiling playfully.

"Harsh, Shirogane-san!"

"He gives off a friendly vibe, something that perhaps attracts children. An aura of playful innocence, perhaps?"

"Innocence?" Nanako and Kanji declared at the same time. They had gone to the bathhouse together with him, after all!

Naoto rolled her shoulders in a small shrug. "I'm not all that familiar with him. But he was competent in his handling of the Kubo situation, which gives him good marks in my books, your disagreements with him notwithstanding. At the same time, I'm well-aware that I wouldn't have been rescued that night if he'd been able to dissuade you from your plan. I'm unsure how to process my feelings regarding that."

"Y-yeah," said Kanji. "You don't wanna be in there with your Shadow any longer than you need to be. Take it from me."

"I wonder what they're talking about," Nanako mused. "Probably the festival."

They were done talking, apparently, because Yosuke suddenly stood up and then helped Souji to his feet. Then Yosuke took a step away, but Souji didn't let go of his hand, and he tripped and fell into the grass, the boy falling with him. Neither were hurt, however, as evidenced by the boy's giggles that carried on the wind.

Nanako felt something unpleasant stirring within her at the sound, but she squashed it immediately. Souji could be friends with _anyone_ he wanted.

Yosuke pushed Souji towards the picnic area. Souji took a few steps before looking back at his friend, who waved a goodbye to him before heading on his way.

Souji rejoined Nanako with a satisfied smile on his face.

"So...?" Nanako asked. "What did you talk about?"

To her surprise, Souji's lips were sealed. He was grinning up at her and shaking his head.

"What? You're going to tell me!"

Now Souji was blushing and shaking his head more vigorously. Huh... he really wasn't going to tell her. Astonishing!

And Nanako couldn't even call Yosuke to ask. Despite how happy Souji was, she was annoyed. More than anything, though, she was annoyed about how annoyed she was!

At least Yosuke hadn't told Souji about his falling out with her. He really could be sensitive, huh?

"Ya had fun?" Kanji asked.

Souji nodded. "B-but I don't think... he likes to hold hands..."

Nanako laughed despite herself. "Sou-chan, you might be coming on too strong for him."

"He's going to work now," Souji continued. "At Junes... C-can we visit sometime, big sis? I know... Saki-san..."

"What about Saki-senpai?"

"She works there too. We can visit t-together. Can we, can we please? Then... we could have another root beer..."

Was the boy suggesting a double-date? "I'm not even sure what to say to that, Sou-chan," Nanako said.

"Say 'yes,' maybe," Kanji suggested, and she wrinkled her nose at him.

She couldn't just say yes like that! It wasn't that easy. She couldn't expect Yosuke to want to hang out with her 6-year-old cousin, not when they weren't even talking. Not when she'd promised him...

She noticed Naoto tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at her.

"A-all right," she blurted out, not liking that look on the detective's face. "You can see him again, honey. But don't forget that Kanji-kun is your friend too." She waggled her eyebrows at Kanji. He was asking for this! "You can talk to him about anything and he'll teach you more crafts!"

"That's right," Kanji said. "You wanna make a dinosaur, right?"

"Y-yeah!" Souji declared, looking at Kanji with big eyes. "And I wanna show it to... Mama, and Adachi-san, and partner! And Yuuta-kun, and, and...!"

Nanako derailed him with a sudden question. "Can you go show Kanji-kun the big fish in the river for me?"

Souji blinked, then nodded, and Kanji gave Nanako a curious look before following the boy away from the picnic table.

When they were out of hearing, Naoto spoke. "Your promise to Hanamura... is it really such a serious matter?"

"Yes," Nanako answered firmly.

"Why is that?" 

"Because I needed him to help me, and... I was desperate. I needed him to help me rescue..." She averted her gaze with a grimace.

"To reach Kubo," Naoto finished. "And get your revenge. I remember, Nanako-san."

"Y-yeah... but I always meant to rescue you, too!"

Naoto shook her head. "You don't need to justify yourself, Nanako-san. I understand." Her face held a hint of amusement. "And you did come for me. That's what matters most."

Nanako rested her head on the table and unconsciously stroked the grain with her nails. "I promised not to bother Yosuke ever again. I wasn't a good friend to him, and to be honest, he didn't understand what I was going through. He thought Mr. Morooka was just another dead body. I guess that's no excuse to how I acted, but..."

Naoto regarded her silently, perhaps knowing she wasn't finished.

"I don't know anything anymore," Nanako said. "I just know that I'm going to keep my promises from now on. The one to him, and... one other."

* * *

[8/22: Monday]

The DEATH Squad met at the 'secret headquarters' at the Junes food court, minus Yosuke because Nanako had asked Saki when he wasn't working so that they wouldn't risk involving him. Nanako did not sit at the head of the table. She wanted to address her team without feeling like she was bossing them around. Instead, she sat centered on the bench, Naoto to her right and Kanji to her left. The green-and-red girlfriends were sitting on the opposite side of the long table.

"All right, so, I guess we should have some proper introductions," Nanako said, starting things off. She waved to indicate Naoto. "Girls, this is Naoto Shirogane, the Detective Prince and newest member of the DEATH Squad. He's our inside scoop with the police department. He's handy with a gun and his Persona specializes in light and dark and some powerful starlight thing that I'm kinda scared to see again, to be honest. I mean, it blew the roof off of Kubo's dungeon..."

"Welcome to the team," Yukiko said, bowing in place. "I'm Yukiko Amagi. And this is my friend Chie Satonaka."

"How d'you do," Chie said, not bowing or anything. "I mean, we kinda already met before."

"Indeed," said Naoto, tipping her hat. "The circumstances weren't the best, but, Satonaka-san, I hope we can become... compatriots. In fact, I'll be going to Yasogami as a first-year student once second term starts."

Chie tilted her head to consider it. "Huh, well that's cool."

"He'll keep me in line," Nanako said with a nod. "Anyway, Kanji-kun already knows him. So that's that. Do you have any questions for him?"

"You're on the case, so... well, what do you know?" Chie asked. "Are the police any closer than we are to finding the culprit? Any chance of this being over before the year's through?"

"Before the year's through?" Nanako repeated. "Man... But it's been four months already, hasn't it?"

"It has," Naoto confirmed. "As for the police's progress, they're conflicted as it has come to light that the true culprit must be among them or, at minimum, aided by one of their own. Kubo's escape from their custody is simply inexplicable. Overnight he vanished from his holding cell. And, as it turns out, the keys to the holding cells aren't that difficult to obtain. Essentially, it could've been anyone who knew where they were kept."

"Aren't there procedures to deal with that kind of situation?" Chie asked. "I mean, there should be! Like, make a list of everyone who could've got the key, question everyone who worked there that night..."

"Internal investigations do have procedures," Naoto said. "Very time-consuming procedures. Often outsiders must be called in to avoid controversy, but that can demoralize the local officers. I'm not sure if you are aware of how unhappy the local police were when I was initially brought in simply because I was a young outsider."

"I think Adachi-san called you a 'cocky detective kid,'" Nanako contributed. "Though he wasn't wrong! But if his opinion is the main opinion among his pals, yeah... I could see the higher-ups resisting prefectural involvement."

"Simply put," Naoto said, spreading her hands, "it's all a mess. To be fair, there are some who are doing their best, but the Inaba PD was not equipped to deal with an event like this, and I believe it won't be even by the time it's all over."

"That's not encouraging!" Chie chided.

"But we already knew that, didn't we?" said Yukiko. "We already knew that we're the only ones who could do this."

"The police can't go in the TV," Nanako said. "This mission of ours... it's serious. I mean, we all knew that it was serious, but I don't think we knew just how serious until..."

She trailed off. Everyone was looking at her.

"I messed up," she went on. "...I wonder if all our bodies would've showed up at once over the town. Wonder what the police would make of that. Could one person really string up all those bodies at once?"

Chie's face was ashen, along with Kanji's, but Yukiko looked thoughtful.

"That would be quite a trick," Yukiko said. "I wonder if mine would end up over the inn. I suppose not. How would the TV World know I lived there?"

"D-don't think about that," Chie said, poking her friend in the shoulder.

"Actually, it's likely we'd all end up along the fence here." Nanako indicated the chain-link fence that encircled the rooftop food court. "Or over the police department. Since that'd be where we'd died. That's right. I haven't told you..."

Nanako went on to explain how she, Kanji, and Naoto had mapped the TV World to locations in the real world.

"We're sure that Ms. Yamano was thrown into a TV at the Amagi Inn. You guys have a big TV somewhere there, right?"

Yukiko nodded. "The lobby has a large one. I suppose that must've been the one he used. We have another in my parents' bedroom, but they would've been there at the time."

"And the culprit put you in the one he keeps in his truck. He didn't drive you far, if anywhere, before putting you in."

"We don't have a big TV at my place," Kanji contributed, "so I musta been put in the truck's TV, too."

"Yeah," said Nanako. "We have his methodology down. Now I want to bring your attention to Rise Kujikawa. She's totally going to be the next target. Her airbrushed face is plastered all over the local news, though they haven't got an actual sighting with her yet, as far as I'm aware. But you know the news. They're persistent, and heck, maybe just her name being thrown around every minute of the day will be enough to signal the Midnight Channel to put her on it."

"What are we going to do about it?" Chie asked.

"As soon as she's on the Midnight Channel," Nanako said, "we'll confront her and put pressure on her agents to get her out of this damn town until the Midnight Channel stops showing her. Shirogane-san has the influence now to make it happen, hopefully. If that doesn't work, we'll come up with a second plan. I'd rather not try to set up another trap using Kujikawa as bait. It's just too damned risky."

"But without a trap, we won't be able to catch the culprit," Chie pointed out.

"Well, there are many different ways this could go down. One thing's for sure, Kujikawa is a freaking idol. She's got to have a bunch of tough of bodyguards to keep the creeps away. If the culprit follows her out of town, well, one of them'll be sure to stop him. Unless our culprit is a master of disguise or something... But there's the fact that TVs don't work outside of a certain radius from Inaba."

"Is that true, Senpai?" Kanji seemed surprised.

"Yep. Shirogane-san and I mapped out the radius. I'll give you all a map if you'd like." Nanako paused. "Now I'm imagining the culprit trying to shove Kujikawa into a TV and it not working at all. That might be more dangerous than letting him put her in."

"Nanako..." said Chie with a sigh. "I'm still mad that you left me and Yukiko out of all this. But I gotta admit, you were pretty darn thorough to figure that out."

Naoto spoke up now. "There's more. My kidnapping was videotaped, and we've been able to glean some information regarding the culprit from the footage. He's a man of medium build, somewhat taller than average, between 172 and 180 cm in height. His age is indeterminate but they don't believe he's a teenager."

"Lotsa people fit that description," Kanji muttered.

"He also wore a jumpsuit," Naoto went on, "as if he was a maintenance worker. I suspect that's how he acquired the key to my apartment. Unfortunately, my camera did not record in color, so we don't know exactly what color it was except that the shade was rather light. But since there are only so many services in Inaba that have such uniforms, we should be able to narrow it down over time without the need to resort to setting a trap."

"Too bad he didn't wear a name tag," Kanji remarked. "If I could remember the color, we'd have it solved, is that what you're sayin'?"

"That would narrow it down further," Naoto admitted, "but at this point I'm going to have to believe that memory is lost. I didn't catch sight of the color myself, although I'm sure I must have..."

"Don't beat yourselves up over it," Chie said. "We're making progress! We're still going..." She trailed off for a second, her brow coming together. Then she looked up at Nanako suddenly. "Oh, by the way... Have you noticed that Junes has a lot of cameras? I checked it out while I was shopping. I was wondering if there'd be problems because of that. I mean if any of us were seen on camera... wouldn't the police be suspicious of that?"

Nanako opened and closed her mouth and then looked at Naoto.

"That is odd," the detective murmured. "The report said there wasn't any footage from the store. Perhaps these cameras were installed after the fact."

"Oh, that could be," Chie said. "Maybe we can ask Yosuke if that's true."

"Nah," said Nanako breezily. "I'll ask Saki-senpai. Heck, I can ask her now. I'm sure she's bored." She took out her phone and began to text her girlfriend about it.

"The new cameras bring up an important issue," Naoto said. "Your forays into the TV World may have been recorded. If there's a new one in the electronics department, our activity might be hampered. Unless, perhaps, some of these new cameras are dupes or simply unmonitored. The expense of constantly recording and keeping such recordings is rather high, even for a superstore."

There was silence after that, broken by Chie's murmur: "We really screwed up, didn't we?"

"I screwed up," Nanako corrected. "I'm the leader—or was—so the responsibility falls to me."

"No, we're a team," Chie said with surprising savagery. "There's no 'I' in 'team,' Nanako!"

"But we're not a team," Yukiko said. "We're... a DEATH Squad!"

She began to giggle, and Chie rolled her eyes and took her friend by the arm and began to shake her in the attempt to calm her down.

"I screwed up more, though. I mean, there's more I haven't told you." Nanako sighed and put down her phone. Texting Saki had reminded her that she was still keeping secrets. "I've told Saki-senpai about what we're doing. About the TV World. I haven't shown her it and I don't plan to, but she knows. She's my girlfriend, and I know that doesn't really excuse it, but... yeah."

She gripped the edge of the table tightly, expecting Chie to start shouting at her at any second. When no words came, she brought her gaze up to meet the other girl's eyes, only to find an inquisitive stare waiting for her.

Then Kanji spoke up. "W-well, y'see, Saki-senpai, she's pretty smart, so—"

Nanako stopped him by setting a hand on his arm. "It was when I was in the hospital. I was doped up on painkillers but also pretty shaken up over everything that happened, and... I mean, I thought I'd broken our team apart forever. I still might have, at least part of it." At that, she looked to the far end of the table where Yosuke used to sit. Far from her because of how she'd liked to kick him under the table. That seemed so petty now.

"Hey," Chie interrupted. "It's okay. I mean, Yukiko... She told me how you were feeling after visiting you in the hospital, so..."

The corners of Yukiko's lips turned up. "If friends abandoned friends after screw-ups," she said, "I wouldn't be with Chie anymore. Twice over." She nudged Chie playfully.

"I wasn't really listening at the time," Chie admitted, "but... I can understand now."

There was a soft chuckle to Nanako's right. "We are all a bunch of screw-ups," Naoto remarked. "But I believe we are a bunch of screw-ups worth fighting for."

* * *

[8/23: Tuesday]

It was time for Nanako to spend all of her cash. Although she hadn't worked at the day care since—damn, who knew anymore?—her allowance added up to a not insignificant amount. She was lucky, perhaps, that her dad hadn't cut her allowance off, considering she still hadn't called him at all. And summer break was nearing its end, so she'd have to do that soon.

She intended to go to Daidara's, but stopped in the middle of the street upon seeing the Velvet Room's azure door. Not only did she need new gear, but she definitely needed to fuse new Personas. The cost could become astronomical. What took priority? After some internal debate, she passed the door and went into the blacksmith's shop. A new Persona would be no good if she didn't have any way to defend herself before summoning it, and it would help only her directly—she needed to outfit everyone with updated equipment.

Old man Daidara showed her all sorts of new things he'd made from the various Shadow bits she'd brought him. A dangerous-looking set of steel-toed boots, an elegant fan with a swan motif, a set of razor-sharp knives...

These new items looked great and all, but she simply couldn't afford everything. Why did the cost ramp up so exponentially...? Heck, why did she have to pay at all when she provided most of the materials for his art? She supposed he had to make a profit somehow.

Perhaps more importantly, Daidara had never batted even a single eyelash at the truly bizarre stuff she tried selling him. Molars and fangs that obviously came from no known living creature, rare minerals, oddly-shaped rubbery objects, ugly old lamps... Nor did he question the need for high schoolers to have fully-functional weapons and armor. Heh, maybe in the past he'd been a Persona-user. He certainly had the battle scars.

Regardless, as a result, Nanako only purchased the essentials: a new naginata to replace the one she'd lost in the battle with Shadow Teddie and a set of armor for Naoto. Daidara promised to modify the armor if it didn't fit, and Nanako took his word for it.

The money leftover she would spend on fusion, or that was the plan. She headed into the Velvet Room. Margaret was already giving her the haughty and suspicious look she wore nowadays whenever she had to deal with Nanako. Her expression totally changed when Nanako told her she was there to fuse.

"Let's see what we can make with this shit, all right?" Nanako said in a self-depreciating way. Her cards were so pitiful—it was easy to see now. She would never forget how much it hurt when she'd been burned with Jack Frost equipped.

"Your experience with fusion is... lacking," Margaret stated while Nanako was poking at her cards on the table and trying to figure out what combo would make anything remotely useful. The fusions available for her assembled cards left a lot to be desired.

"Tell me about it," Nanako said, splaying her fingers over her face in frustration.

Margaret hid a smile behind her hand. "Ah, but I believe Master neglected to mention something to you. Fusion isn't limited to just two cards... There is such a thing as triple fusion."

"What, three cards at once?"

Margaret began to show Nanako what she could make with the cards she had via triple fusion.

Eventually she found a combo that would give her a big red demon with a sword: Oni.

"Well, it looks strong," Nanako remarked. "I guess I'll go for it!"

Instead of working her magic, Margaret paused. "This Persona... you haven't established the link to strengthen it."

"Yeah?" said Nanako in a neutral tone. She wondered if it was the one she'd avoided just the other day at the festival... the Balls Club link.

"You should attempt to establish as many links as possible." Margaret sounded a tad reproachful. "It can only help you in the end."

"Help me or hurt me? Because Mr. Morooka's broken because he's dead, Teddie's never was, Marie's won't get started though I know she has one and I've been as nice to her as I can be, yours felt like it was gonna break just for me being too casual about your name..."

Margaret paused again, lifting one of her long nails to her chin in thought. "It's interesting," she said. "I may be overstepping my bounds in saying this, but your links are quite fragile, moreso than any other guest's."

"Maybe it's because I'm a bad friend."

Nanako had only been interested in the Balls Club because of its stupid nickname. Not because she'd really wanted to be friends with them. She recalled how Yosuke'd joined the band club. She hadn't even considered joining the band with him or otherwise trying to support his decision. Instead, in her single-minded fervor, she'd tried to force him into the Balls Club with her.

She had a social link with Margaret, too. But it wasn't like she wanted to be friends with that damned cougar or anything. She was a resident of the Velvet Room. What could Nanako do for her? She didn't want to be shown around town like Marie did. And speaking of Marie, Nanako didn't care too much for her, in all honesty.

And why wasn't Yuuta a link? She'd done a lot for the boy and she wanted him to be happy, just like her dear little Hermit. And how much closer could she really get to her own mother—especially via long distance?

"Is that what you think?" Margaret inquired. "Perhaps it's simply part of your nature. Every Wild Card is different, or so I understand. The fragility of these bonds may seem to be a weakness, but perhaps it is compensated for by a strength in another department."

"You can call me special all you want, but I'm not sure I'm going to believe it anymore," Nanako told her frankly. "Not in a positive way, at least. I've hurt my friends and, well, my Magician link isn't broken, but it's definitely not going anywhere. I haven't had a Chariot event in, like, forever either." She hesitated. "They don't have an expiration date or anything, do they?"

"None of your links are broken," Margaret said. "And they cannot break from neglect alone."

"But... Mr. Morooka..."

Margaret shook her head. "Your Hierophant link isn't broken. Remember what my master said."

Nanako glanced at Igor, who seemed to be sleeping with his eyes wide open.

_Death is not the end for a social link._

"What does it mean?" Nanako asked.

"I wonder," Margaret said. She chuckled, and for once, Nanako wasn't angry with her.

* * *

[8/24: Wednesday]

"We don't have Teddie anymore."

The words were still hard on her throat, but Nanako promised herself she wouldn't cry.

"Obviously, our performance in the last few fights could have been much better, even though we did have him then."

Everyone nodded solemnly. They were gathered at the TV World backlot, right at the center of the bulls-eye.

"I'd love to let you guys believe I am a super badass who didn't need anyone else to rescue Shirogane-san, but actually my experience in his dungeon would be best described as Metal Gear Nanako. There's something else bothering me, though."

Nanako took a deep breath.

"Our enemy overpowered Kanji-kun and outsmarted Shirogane-san and me; sooner or later, we're going to confront him, and chances are it's gonna be inside a TV. Now, he probably has a gun, and in here we have no chance of getting help from anywhere. We need to shape up."

"I have a license to carry firearms, myself," Naoto said, drawing a handgun from her coat. "With that in mind, I have thought of a few experiments to determine how dangerous the culprit is, and how we might stand a better chance against them."

"We need a way to test how reliable our healing is," Yukiko said almost immediately. Naoto watched her intently. "I wasn't able to heal Nanako the last time we were here, nor my own arm. I had thought that maybe there was a limit to the injuries we could fix, but then I managed to heal her ear just now."

Naoto nodded. "Though," the detective added, "the exams confirmed that her ear was healing on its own, just very slowly."

"Right," Yukiko said, "so we should find out exactly what kind of injuries we can heal, and whether Diarahan can heal graver injuries than Diarama."

"B-But," Chie chimed in, "how are we supposed to do that without, y'know, hurting ourselves?"

"Short of sacrificing kittens or something," Kanji mumbled, and there was a moment of silence as everyone stared at him with horror in their eyes.

"Well, Shirogane-san is a sharp shot," Nanako started some time later, and was immediately cut off.

"What?!" said everyone except for Naoto, though even the detective didn't seem all that comfortable with the idea despite having discussed it with Nanako extensively for the past week.

"Are you crazy?" Chie asked eventually.

"Yes," Nanako answered. "This is better than getting shot during battle, and Yukiko is right, we do need to find out what we can and can't heal; besides, the guinea pig here will be me."

It then became apparent that nearly everyone was more worried at the thought of getting shot themselves, rather than Nanako alone getting shot—though, to their credit, after a second or so they seemed pretty worried about that too.

"N-Nanako," Chie tried, "you could die."

"I won't," Nanako said, at the same time both Naoto and Kanji said, "She won't."

Chie stared at Kanji like he was insane.

"I've seen him shoot," he said, "and they probably talked about this a lot before coming to us."

"Shirogane-san obviously won't shoot me through the heart or anything," Nanako clarified, noting once again that Kanji was by far the most level-headed member of her DEATH Squad.

"What we are going to do first is write a list of injuries you have had in the past. I have tested my gun on Shadows, and they seemed no more effective than your own melee weapons. In fact, though fighting in here does make you stronger, when inside this place, your bodies seem to follow what Nanako-san dubs 'TV World logic,' and behave in a manner similar to the Shadows themselves."

"Our Personas' strengths are our strengths, and their weaknesses are our weaknesses," Nanako declared poetically, having those lines already filled under 'haiku time with Marie and Margie' in the back of her mind.

"Now that you mention it," Yukiko said, "even attacks that our Personas are weak against only manage to knock us down, as long as the foe isn't terribly stronger than us, at any rate."

"Yeah..." Chie said slowly, then paused. "Oh! Doesn't the same happen to Shadows too?"

"Yeah! I thought it was weird how sometimes they all get knocked down so we can gang up on them, but now it makes sense," Yukiko said.

"What we are going to test," Naoto said, "is whether that applies to damage inflicted on us by other humans."

"We already tried hurting each other in less drastic ways," Nanako added, "and my Dia managed to heal every single injury without fault."

Everyone seemed reasonably calmed by this information, except for Chie, who just stared at her somewhat bitterly.

"I wish you'd include us in that stuff, you know," she said. "We're part of the squad too."

"I dunno about you, senpai, but I'm okay with this," Kanji said. "I bet we'd slow them down bigtime if they had to argue us into helping every single time, like they're doing right now."

"Not getting shot is also a plus," Yukiko said quietly, "but, I do wish you'd ask us for help more often, Nanako, even if things are going to be drastic. Sometimes it feels as though you and Shirogane-kun carry the entire team on your backs."

Nanako gave it some thought. Kanji was right, of course, but so was Yukiko. Naoto had been a godsend, like it or not her presence had improved their investigations tenfold, but even before she'd joined, Nanako had done a lot of things on her own, things that in hindsight could have been done better and easier if she'd asked for help, like investigating the Amagi Inn, for instance.

"You're both right," she said, deciding that honesty was the best option. "I've always had the habit of doing things on my own, and no one can quite match me in the crazy scale as Shirogane-san, so we've been working together a lot, even before he joined."

Nanako pointedly ignored Naoto's mumbling of something like "I'll take that as compliment," because it was a compliment.

(Though, Nanako suspected, she and Naoto probably had very different reasons for doing what they did.)

"I know I've been neglecting you guys, though," she continued. "I'm sorry."

Chie smiled at her. "I know you are, Nanako." She sighed. "Well, before you two get to shooting each other, can I just suggest something?"

"Shoot. Uh, I mean... Go ahead."

"We could spar. You know, get used to fighting human enemies some. I bet that's gonna be just as important as avoiding bullets, when it comes down to it."

Nanako's gobsmacked expression turned into a smile, which then widened into a grin, and Chie thought—well Nanako couldn't read minds yet but she was pretty sure this is what she thought—that whatever she'd just said would come back to bite her in the ass.

"Why, Chie," Nanako said, unable to suppress the joy in her voice, "that's a wonderful idea."

"Um," Chie said eloquently.

"Of course, some of us don't use regular weapons, but that's what makes this training important," she continued.

"I did buy this steel fan from Daidara-san last week," Yukiko added helpfully, raising the admittedly impressive fighting game-esque fan for them to see. "He made it from some things I found in Kubo's dungeon, plus actual steel, so it should be extra strong."

Chie seemed horrified and aroused all at the same time.

"Well, since we're doing this, check this shit out," Kanji said, drawing an ancient medieval-looking shield that looked as though it was made from pure silver. It covered the entire length of his body once put on the ground. "I got me this huge ass shield, he said it was a tower shield or something, I dunno. Should be able to smack some Shadows up good, though."

"I find the legality of this questionable," Naoto said, "but perhaps I, too, should visit this Daidara person, and see if he can work with my guns."

"That old man is great," Nanako agreed, all aroused and not the least bit horrified.

"I saw him too," Chie said sheepishly, "but he isn't finished with my order yet."

"Well, this should be fun!" Nanako said, and she raised her trusty naginata.

* * *

When she finally got past her horror, Chie was pretty into the idea, deciding that they should have brackets, drawing them up and then announcing, in her best martial arts master voice, that the tournament was about to begin, while ominously declaring that the first fight would be just a taste of things to come. Nanako had to admit she sounded pretty cool.

The brackets were like this:

a) Naoto vs. Yukiko  
b) Nanako vs. Kanji  
c) A winner vs. Chie  
d) B winner vs. C winner

Naoto would use pressurized pellets rather than bullets, Nanako would use a wooden naginata (or, in layman's terms, an old mop they swiped from Junes), and Kanji would use a folding chair. Chie kept her greaves, and since the steel fan (which, when closed, looked suspiciously like a dagger, or maybe a butcher knife) was the first remotely lethal weapon they'd ever seen Yukiko use, no one said anything when she stepped into the poorly drawn ring with it.

Naoto drew her gun. Yukiko opened her fan.

Chie was too into her role as referee to worry about her girlfriend, for once.

"Hajime!" she declared, and Naoto proved to be stone cold as she almost immediately raised her gun and shot, clearly aiming for Yukiko. Chie was about to scream again when her princess, against all odds, quickly raised her metal fan in time to block the pellet. Wasting no time, Yukiko closed the fan and threw it at the detective, who had to duck for cover. The metal fan stuck to a wall, demonstrating its power. Nanako would be having second thoughts right about now, if she wasn't Nanako.

Yukiko wasn't done; before Naoto could complete her combat roll, she raised another fan, a simple paper one she'd been keeping tied to her skirt, and everyone knew what that meant. "Konohana-Sakuya!" she yelled, sending a maelstrom of flames forward as though fanning a bonfire.

Naoto was far from helpless, however. As soon as she finished her roll, she raised her Persona card and shot it. The resulting blue mist was quickly dispelled by the approaching heat, but the trusty moth boy was ready. With a gesture of his master's hand, Sukuna-Hikona flew directly into the fire, slashing his sword faster than humanly possible, such that the fire, too, was reduced to nothing. Everyone expected the Persona to keep going, but instead he disappeared, Naoto having other plans in mind.

"This is pretty intense, senpai..." Kanji said, obviously worried for them.

"Shows what would happen if we were to fight another Persona-user," Nanako said with a shrug. "I'm sure they can handle it."

Yukiko now had only her harmless paper fan. If she wanted her cool metal one back, she'd have to close the distance between herself and Naoto, and Yukiko was simply not fit for close combat quarters. Nanako had initially thought Naoto wasn't either, but those thick soles of hers packed quite the, uh, kick, and she'd mentioned taking self-defense classes in the past.

"Sukuna-Hikona!" Naoto called again, and this time the moth boy circled his master almost faster than the eye could see—a buff, maybe?

"Yukiko, watch out!" cried Chie, but Yukiko (literally) waved her concerns away.

Nanako, meanwhile, had other thoughts. Does she plan on using that creepy starlight skill against Yukiko? Oh man, we'd better find some cover!

Yukiko ran towards Naoto with surprising speed, but the detective was prepared. As the girl approached, she summoned her Persona once again, ready for her final blow, but then...

"Hwataaaaaaaaah!" Yukiko screamed, shocking everyone as she punted the poor moth boy, shattering him completely and sending Naoto into a daze. Right after, she round-housed Naoto herself, sending her outside what they'd been calling the arena.

Oh, right... Her girlfriend was Chie.

"Yame!" Chie again screamed; her eyes were hearts. "Winner: Yukiko Amagi!"

"Wow," Nanako said, because someone had to say it. "Yukiko, that was..."

"Amazing!" Chie finished, almost going for a hug but hesitating at the last second. Chie really was prudish, wasn't she?

"I've been training," Yukiko admitted sheepishly.

"I see that now," said Naoto, climbing up the stage no worse for the wear. "I should not have underestimated you, Amagi-san."

Yukiko smiled coyly. "I was surprised by how you put away the flames!"

"I was surprised by how you blocked his bullet," Nanako added. "I had no idea you, or anyone, could do that."

"Well, it was only a pressurized pellet, but nevertheless the impact should have knocked the fan out of your hands," Naoto said.

"It was just like you said, Nanako," Yukiko said. When Nanako raised an eyebrow at her, she added, "You know, that thing about strengths and weaknesses."

Everyone nodded.

"Right," Nanako said. "Um, sorry that you lost, Shirogane-san."

Naoto simply smiled. "I shall endeavor to do better, next time."

Kanji scratched his head. "Speaking of, who's next?" he asked.

"You and me, big boy," Nanako answered, winking for added effect, though she realized after the fact that it probably made her look like Yosuke, and vowed never to do it again. "I hope you're ready!"

"Uh..." Kanji articulated.

"Heh heh heh..."

* * *

Despite his hesitation, Kanji seemed ready to throw down once he stepped into the ring, and despite her bravado, he and Nanako were pretty evenly matched. Oni and Queen Mab, the two Personas she'd recently fused with her few Persona cards, had no social links attached to them, which meant they only had their starting skills. One was strong against physical attacks, the other against electricity, the two areas Kanji excelled in, but she couldn't have them both out at the same time, so he might surprise her. Nanako brought Oni to the forefront of her mind anyway, knowing her friend preferred to just beat things up rather than dealing with 'that magic crap,' as he called it.

Nanako bowed. Kanji raised his folding chair, then awkwardly bowed too. Good thing it wasn't his tower shield, else she'd really be in trouble.

"Come at me with all you got, Kanji-kun," Nanako said, knowing how much of a softie he was.

Kanji nodded at her. "You too, senpai."

Nanako eyed her friend critically. Sure, he was strong and had good reflexes, having been in way more real world fights than her, but... she could take him.

"Hajime!" Chie shouted.

Nanako raised her naginata and stayed put, but Kanji charged at her right away. Though she figured he was as impulsive as she was, she'd had no idea how he would fight against a friend. Well, now she knew.

Kanji was ready to bring down his almighty folding chair on her, but Nanako simply sidestepped, briefly spinning as she did so to build momentum for a horizontal hit against his arm. Surprisingly, he just clenched his teeth and pushed it aside, swinging the chair against her again. This time she ducked, trying to bring Kanji down with a sweep on his legs, but they, too, proved to be resilient, and her surprise left her wide open to Kanji's kick, right to her stomach.

Nanako coughed out all the air in her lungs, but recovered in time with a backwards roll, pointing the wooden naginata at him.

"That wouldn't have worked with a real naginata, Kanji-kun," she informed him. "With TV world strength, I might even have cut your legs off."

Kanji swallowed audibly.

Nanako pointed the wooden naginata at him. "Come," she ordered.

What followed was more dance than battle, as Nanako circled Kanji while evading his every move, hitting him fast and hard whenever she could, and making up for the lack of damage by taunting him: "Did you know the aorta is the largest artery in the human body?" she asked, raising her naginata to his neck, but only lightly tapping him with it. "With a blade, this alone would have sprayed the arena with blood."

(Of course, blood wasn't that high in pressure, but he didn't need to know that.)

"These are your fingers, Kanji-kun," she said, again only lightly tapping them. "If broken, they might not heal correctly. You wouldn't be able to sew."

"The hell you getting at, Senpai?" he asked, twisting his body as he tried to hit her with the chair. Nanako ducked, then quickly raised the naginata as hard as she could against his hand, successfully making him drop the chair, which she immediately kicked out of the arena, even if taking the time to do so earned her another kick to the gut.

Nanako coughed the air out again, but there was also some blood this time. Kanji quickly ran to her side.

"You okay, Senpai?" he asked, helping her up. "S-sorry about that, but you were kinda pissing me off!"

Nanako sighed. "I was trying to get you to dodge, you big doof," she said, not letting go of his hand. "You won't be able to just ignore a gunshot wound, or even a knife one."

Kanji blushed a little. "You don't need to go all Bak Mei on me just to say that," he mumbled.

"No kidding," said Chie, obviously pleased with the kung fu movie reference. "Hey, where did you learn to fight like that, Nanako?"

"Fight like what?" Nanako asked, going for a bottle of water since obviously that fight wasn't going anywhere.

"You know, with a naginata!" the girl clarified, mimicking her moves excitedly.

Nanako raised an eyebrow at her. "I started using one when we bought weapons at Daidara, don't you remember?"

"I do, but... you fight like a character on a period drama."

"What, not a kung fu movie?" Nanako joked.

"The naginata is a Japanese weapon," Yukiko explained, "though the Chinese do have a similar weapon, the guan dao."

Chie shook her head. "No, it doesn't have anything to do with the weapon exactly, just... you don't make any unnecessary movements, and your footwork is really economical. I mean, just now you were fighting close quarters with a long ranged weapon, and you knew exactly where to step and how to move your body to hit where you wanted to."

"I used to drop this thing all the time, though," Nanako said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable by this line of thought.

Chie sighed exasperatedly. "That's not the point!"

"If what you say is true," Naoto suddenly interjected, "then you have mastered that weapon in a remarkably short time, Nanako-san."

 _I feel like I might have used one a long, long time ago,_ Nanako remembered thinking. "Whatever," she said. "Kanji-kun, you would have won that fight, so you're a finalist now, okay?"

"Sure thing, Senpai," Kanji said, and that was that, but what Nanako was really thinking was that her friends had a point.

* * *

Yukiko won against Chie, who was obviously reluctant to hurt her girlfriend even though they probably sparred all the time, so the finals were set to be Kanji versus Yukiko, an unlikely matchup if there ever was one.

Nanako was happy to see that Kanji took her advice to heart and actually dodged Yukiko's deadly fan several times. Unfortunately for him, the girl was a beast in battle, completely overwhelming the boy with her flames. Kanji just didn't know how to respond to long range magic, and his few attempts to use Take-Mikazuchi ended up with the big guy shattered.

Yukiko was the winner, and Nanako had a feeling Chie would have a very special reward for her, heh heh heh...

"That was enlightening," Naoto said, tipping his cap to her.

Kanji gave her a hearty slap on the back. "Yukiko-senpai is the strongest, huh? That ain't surprising, but congrats, man!"

"I am no man," Yukiko said, her tone surprisingly serious, but then that smile creeped up and well, you know the rest.

When her laughter finally subsided, the team decided to talk business.

"What did we learn?" Nanako asked them.

"That thing when your Persona breaks," Kanji offered. "I ain't seen any Shadows that can do that."

"I've experienced it once," Nanako said, her mouth a thin line. "During our last battle."

Everyone understood what that meant, and didn't press further.

"I think maybe that might be because Shadows rarely aim for our Personas," Yukiko suggested. "They seem much more interested in harming us."

"We also only summon our Personas briefly," Naoto added, "and as such, the Shadows have little time to counter. More important, however, is what happens to us when our Personas are shattered."

"You looked kinda out of it when Yukiko kicked yours to the curb," Chie said. "I'd never have come up with that, to be honest."

Yukiko smiled innocently. "Oh, the idea just came to me naturally," she said. Everyone shuddered.

"What did you feel, exactly?" Nanako asked the detective.

"The feeling is rather difficult to describe," Naoto admitted. "I suppose... Did you ever put down a pen, only to completely forget where a few seconds later?"

"I think so, yeah," Nanako answered.

"The experience was rather similar, only the pen was everything."

Nanako wanted to say that she understood, but... "What about you, Kanji-kun? What did you feel?"

"Distracted," Kanji answered with conviction. "You know, like when you're busy sewing and then Ma calls you up? You don't mess up or anything, but you also don't pay attention to the needle."

"Oh, I know what you mean!" Chie said suddenly. "Like when you're watching Trial of the Dragon and your dad knocks even though he knows you don't want to miss the Dragon Fist, and him knocking sort of already ruined it."

"Or when you're on the phone with a friend and the bird is making a huge fuss, so even though you heard your friend speak, you don't really know what she said," Yukiko finished.

"Wait, is that why you sometimes hum like you're listening but don't really add anything to the conversation?" Chie asked, seemingly outraged.

The conversation completely derailed, the DEATH Squad chatted animatedly about little everyday interruptions while Nanako just quietly scooted to the side, motioning for Naoto to follow her.

"Your friends are certainly a lively bunch," Naoto said.

"I'm starting to understand how Yukiko must feel whenever we get together to study," Nanako admitted. "It's probably getting dark out by now, so we don't have much time."

"I have refrained from making any comments in front of your friends, but... Nanako-san, are you truly sure about this?"

"I am."

* * *

The results were as follows:

Contact and near contact wounds could be healed with Diarama, but only to a certain degree. In order to heal tissue damage, Diarahan was needed. Once the wound became a scar, neither Diarama nor Diarahan could make it disappear. Hence, using the strongest spell first was preferable. Entry wounds could only be healed once the bullet was removed, and then only with Diarahan. Width of the wound was irrelevant. Diarama succeeded in closing large wounds produced by white weapons, but visibly failed to create new tissue when the wound had any stippling. Diarahan would try to push the bullet out of the wound, and fail to do any actual healing. Exit wounds could more easily be healed for this reason.

Wounds obtained on the outside world could not be healed with any spell, no matter how powerful. Regarding her ear injury, Naoto proposed that either the TV World had somehow registered that it happened inside itself, or that the ear was already healing naturally, and the spell instead produced a placebo effect, though even she admitted that the latter theory was fickle.

Not even Nanako dared to test what they could do about bone wounds. Not after her previous experience with them.

* * *

Nanako had only a few scars and a bandaged wrist to show for their work, but even so she chose to ride piggyback on Kanji for the trip home.

"We have learned a great deal today," Naoto assured her, and she nodded in agreement, not finding anything to say that hadn't already been said.

When they came out, Junes was almost closing. The sky outside was very clear, and though she couldn't see the moon from the angle her head was at, the stars were enough to distract her for most of the trip, until she finally found the energy to whisper:

"Kanji-kun?"

"Yeah?" Kanji asked, adjusting his grip on her.

"Sorry about our fight. I-I didn't mean to—"

"'s okay, Senpai," he interrupted, and was then interrupted himself, when Nanako tightened her hold, nuzzling her head against his neck.

"I was pumped to fight you," she said, "but when you just stood there and took my hits, I... I just couldn't stop thinking about what would have happened with a real naginata."

Kanji turned his head slightly.

"I really did want you to dodge," she went on, "n-not because you would need to in a real fight, but because seeing you h-hurt in my head over and over was just too much."

"You hit hard, Senpai," he admitted, "but don't worry, I knew what you were getting at. Though..."

"Yeah?"

"You need to be more careful too. The little guy ain't gonna like that you got new scars. ...Don't want to see you in pain again, either."

Though Nanako had no idea where Kanji learned that Souji hadn't reacted well to her scars, she found herself nodding once again.

 _This day was not any fun,_ she thought as they walked past the textile shop, _but we won't lose anyone else, Teddie._

* * *

Adachi arrived at the Seta Residence that evening bearing a devastating surprise: he'd bought a new tie. More specifically, a pink tie.

Souji was in love. "I-It's pink!" He beamed, making Adachi blush self-consciously; he really wasn't used to the attention.

"I saw how good you looked in that jinbei and thought I might steal some of your charm," Adachi admitted sheepishly.

"The color suits you," Aunt Seta said in a surprisingly sultry tone that would have made Nanako blush if she wasn't, well, Nanako.

Naoto had insisted on not being home for the special Wednesday, so that was that, and they fell right back into the usual rhythm: Adachi complaining about work.

"That Kujikawa girl is something else." Adachi followed his words with a long sigh. "I don't know what all the fuss is about. She doesn't seem like anything special. But the top brass want to keep an eye on her."

"You know, I was almost scouted out by an idol agency," Aunt Seta commented. "They were holding auditions in our school's gymnasium after school one day. My girlfriends and I decided to give it a try. I impressed them enough that I was asked to return the next day, but when I did, I found that they'd already moved on to another school."

"Ouch," said Nanako sympathetically, but now she was trying to imagine an elementary school-age Aunt Seta and failing miserably. But 'girlfriends,' huh? She had no problem imagining that. "That's pretty rotten."

The woman shrugged her shoulders. "It's probably for the best. Most idols from that era didn't last. Their lives seemed glamorous from the outside, but I understand it's not like that at all on the inside. I wonder if the industry has changed much since then."

"Doubt it," Nanako muttered.

"You'd think with all the money she's got, she wouldn't have to rely on us police for protection," Adachi said with another sigh. "But you'd be wrong!"

"Wait, she doesn't have any bodyguards or anything?" Nanako wrinkled her brow.

"Not even one," Adachi reported. "Unless you count her grandma."

"...Are you shi—er," Nanako cut herself off because Souji was in the room. "—kidding me?" she continued less than smoothly. She couldn't help but rub her palm against her forehead in aggravation. Their plans to protect Kujikawa depended on the girl having competent bodyguards!

"She's being harassed by all sorts of creepers," Adachi continued. "We caught a guy trying to set up a camera outside of her bedroom window. You might see a story in the paper tomorrow about it. I really hope they didn't get a picture of me."

But you're wearing that awesome tie, Nanako almost protested. "You don't want to be the hero?" she asked instead with as much innocence as she could muster, which wasn't very much.

"I've had my share of media attention," he replied. "Trust me, nothing good comes from it."

At that, Aunt Seta placed a hand on Adachi's forearm as if in sympathy. It took Nanako a moment too long to figure out what he'd meant: he had to have been hounded by the news media after Sachio's death, being his partner and all...

"Hopefully it'll all die down soon," Adachi said. "I mean, I'm supposed to be a detective, not a babysitter! Not that the Kujikawa girl is any trouble. She's just helping her grandma run that tofu shop like a good little girl. She seems nothing like she is on TV."

Aunt Seta nodded and made a gesture with her hand. "She has to keep a low profile while in this retirement stage or else she won't have a job when she returns to the industry. Any sign of a scandal will kill her career."

Nanako began to contemplate how this could be used to her advantage. Surely it meant that the teen idol would have to take the threat of kidnapping seriously.

After a moment, she noticed Adachi eyeing her from across the table. "How long is she planning to retire?" Nanako asked casually, trying not to give herself away. "Did she say? My friends were wondering if she'll go to our school."

"She didn't," Adachi answered. "Not that I asked."

"Can't be too long," Aunt Seta murmured. "Time is ticking by. She's in the prime of her youth. That's her asset. If she doesn't capitalize on it now, there won't be a chance later. There's always someone else waiting in the wings."

"You know a lot about this industry, Auntie," Nanako remarked. "You don't work in it or something, do you?" Come to think of it, Nanako had no idea what her aunt's career consisted of. Well, aside from the fact that she had to work long hours... but that was the fate of any salaryperson in Japan, really. She'd just assumed it was a business-related job based on her daily attire.

"I have to be on top of these things to be able to relate to my clients," Aunt Seta said. "You'd be surprised how important these idols are to grown men and women. But mostly men."

"I couldn't care less," Adachi said.

"Aaaand maybe that's why they gave you the job to watch her!" Nanako pointed out. "You won't be trying to get her autograph while on duty."

Adachi began to laugh. "One of your little friends came by to do just that! But he wasn't buying any tofu, so I kicked him out."

"One of MY friends?" Nanako asked. "Today?" They'd been in the TV World all day, so it could only be...

"That Junes kid," Adachi confirmed. "You know, it's not my place to judge, but that kid definitely seems the type who wouldn't wash his hands after using the toilet."

"It's totally your place to judge," Nanako told him. "Especially since you're probably right!"

"Junes?" Souji spoke up to ask. "Are you talking about... p-partner?"

"Oh, what, _now_ you have something to say?" Nanako teased. "You've been so quiet 'til now, Sou-chan!"

Souji's face became as pink as Adachi's tie. "W-well..."

"'Partner'?" Aunt Seta subjected her son to a quizzical look.

The little boy's eyes widened, the blush on his cheeks gone as fast as it had arrived. "Uh, umm..." he murmured.

He obviously didn't like being put on the spot like that, so Nanako decided to rescue him.

But before she could open her mouth, Souji had put on a determined face. "He's my com... compatriot," he said.

Aunt Seta looked even more puzzled by that. "Compatriot...? Did this 'partner' teach you that word?"

"N-no..." he said. "Th-that was... big bro."

Now it was Adachi's turn to be confused. "Big bro?"

"Shirogane-san," Nanako explained.

Confused perhaps even more, Adachi looked at Aunt Seta. "Shirogane-kun is his brother?"

Aunt Seta snorted and then began to cackle. A moment later and Adachi was laughing with her, the sound surprisingly infectious.

Then Adachi's laughter died, a faraway look coming to his face.

* * *

[8/25: Thursday]

Nanako spent much of the day teaching Souji the importance of cleanliness, not just in regards to washing his hands after he peed, but also in regards to sneezing, coughing, wiping his nose, and licking his fingers after handling food. Since she was already at it, she also taught him how to use disinfectant to clean up minor scrapes. The next time someone skinned a knee at school, Souji would be prepared.

Naoto helped, too, expanding Souji's knowledge by explaining the importance of being hydrated and exercising regularly—not that the detective herself ever followed that, what with all the coffee she drank and sitting around the house she did!

"Exercise, huh?" Nanako remarked. "You wanna come with me and Chie the next time we train?"

"Err," Naoto said hesitantly.

"It's f-fun," Souji said. "Big bro... you'd have fun with us."

"Us...?"

"Yep, Sou-chan comes, too!" Nanako poked her little cousin in the belly. "I didn't think you thought it was fun, though! You're always huffing and puffing. I thought for sure you'd prefer to stay at home!"

"But then... I wouldn't see Chie-san," Souji pointed out. "Sh-she's my compatriot, too."

At this rate, Souji would join the DEATH Squad. Nanako couldn't help but smile back at him. He was just too sweet a boy. 

If only it wasn't raining today! She could make Souji play outside with her, since he apparently didn't hate the outdoors. Because of that, they stayed inside and watched a marathon of cartoons on the kids' channel: the complete opposite of exercising.

Regardless, they had so much fun that before they knew it, the day was over and it was time to put the boy to bed.

"Who do you want to read to you, Sou-chan?" Nanako asked while helping him into his pajamas. "Big sis or big bro?"

Souji looked from Nanako to Naoto and back again. "B-both...?" he suggested, a shy but playful smile on his face.

"Good answer," Nanako told him with a grin. "Come on, Shirogane-san! Let's do this."

Nanako had long since run out of Loveline manga to read to him, so she'd picked up some books at the central shopping district's bookstore. This one was a collection of short stories illustrated with cute pictures.

But pictures really weren't enough for Nanako—not when she could act the scenes out!

She scrounged through Souji's closet until she found a red blanket. She wrapped this around her head and shoulders, creating a sort of hooded shawl. She gently pulled Naoto close to her. "Red Oni," – she pointed to herself – "and Blue Oni," – she indicated Naoto – "live high up in the mountains. We've always lived there, as far as we can remember. It's always been just the two of us, and although we're very good friends, sometimes we feel lonely."

"Oh..." Souji murmured. He took his fox plushie out from under the blanket. "C-can Foxie visit you?"

"Sometimes we do get visitors!" Nanako said excitedly. "I really love seeing new people. But that's the problem, Sou-chan. They don't like to see me. I've got... big teeth," – she opened her mouth wide and gnashed her teeth together – "and long, sharp claws," – she raised her hands and curled her fingers – "and big horns coming out of my head! I'm an oni, and even though I really want to be friends with everyone, I'm kind of scary, don't you think?"

Souji looked thoughtful after hearing that. "You are scary... s-sometimes, big sis..."

"Hey!" Nanako protested.

Naoto chuckled, and Nanako couldn't help but giggle a little herself.

"Maybe I am," she admitted. "But anyway! Red Oni wishes he could go to the human town and make lots of friends, but when he tries to visit, everyone always runs away because he is just too scary. One day, Red Oni was feeling so very sad about it when Blue Oni had an idea." Nanako looked at Naoto and nodded, cuing the detective to take over the storytelling.

Naoto ahem'd. "What if I were to... cause trouble in the village." The detective raised an eyebrow, and Nanako almost laughed again. The Blue Oni sounded a little too cultured! But why not? Appearances were deceiving—that was a major point of the story, after all!

"Why would you do that?" Nanako asked with feigned surprise.

"Simple," the Blue Oni answered. "I will scare the people, and then you will come and rescue them from me. They'll regale you as a hero."

"That's a great idea!" the Red Oni exclaimed. "Let's do it!"

Nanako waved at Naoto, who stared in mild confusion before she understood the gestures she was making. Naoto then approached Souji's bed. The little boy blinked at the detective, wondering what was going on. Naoto gently tugged on his arm. "Come with me, human child. I will eat you... and your fox."

"N-not Foxie!" Souji cried. He tried to keep the plushie out of Naoto's grasp.

"Yes, Foxie," Naoto said evenly, reaching over him until her hand closed on the toy.

"Help!"

Nanako leaped forward. "Stop right there, Blue Oni! Little boy, I'll protect you!"

She and Naoto had a mock fight, and at the end, Naoto 'fled' by leaving the room.

Nanako pretended to pant for her breath. Then she turned to Souji and patted his head. "Little human boy! You're safe now, and so's your fox! I'll stay here and make sure that meanie Blue Oni doesn't try that again!"

"Yay," Souji cheered, grinning up at her.

"And from then on," Nanako said in her narrator voice, "Red Oni was loved by all of the people in the village for protecting that darling little boy, and he lived happily with them." She cuddled her cousin on the bed and then stopped abruptly. "But something wasn't right. What was it, Sou-chan?"

He blinked at her and thought for a moment. "Huh... Wh-whatever happened to... Blue...?"

"You got it," she said in a sad tone of voice. "Red Oni made lots of new friends, but he lost his very first friend, his most important friend... Well, they were still friends, but he couldn't visit Blue Oni in the mountains, or else the people might think he was betraying them."

"I-I forgive Blue..." Souji tried.

Nanako chuckled lightly. "I don't think your mama would forgive him for trying to eat you. It's all right, though. Even though Blue Oni was lonely now without Red Oni, he was happy that his friend had made new friends." 

"That's sad," Souji said solemnly. "I hope... Blue finds friends, too."

"Well, we know Blue is very smart," she said, looking at the doorway to Souji's room and knowing Naoto was just standing there outside. "Maybe he'll even figure out a way to be friends with the humans, too, just like he figured out for Red."

"Yeah!" Souji suddenly hugged her arm, and then yawned against it. He closed his eyes and buried his face against the cloth of her blouse. His eyes didn't reopen.

"Uh, Sou-chan," Nanako said quietly.

He mumbled an incomprehensible answer.

She sighed and patted his head with her free hand, then smiled to herself and slowly worked on extracting her arm from him, replacing it swiftly with Foxie. She tucked him into the bed, turned out the light, and left the room.

"Guess you're gonna have to get changed in the dark," Nanako whispered to Naoto outside.

"He has a night light," Naoto pointed out. "It won't be impossible for me to change. But I think I won't be going to bed just yet. It's raining, after all. You're going to watch the Midnight Channel, yes?"

"Darn right," Nanako answered. "You gonna watch it with me?"

Naoto nodded, her mouth set into a grim line. They went upstairs to Nanako's room and sat on the small couch together.

"Thanks for playing along with me earlier, Blue Oni," Nanako said.

"Hmm?" Naoto murmured. "Oh, I enjoyed it. It reminded me of games I would play when I was a child. Since I didn't have any friends to play with, I had to take on all the roles myself."

"I wish I coulda seen that!"

"My grampa recorded my play once without my knowledge. When I found out, I concocted a secret mission to find the tape and destroy it."

"Did the plan work?"

"Yes and no," Naoto replied. "You see, my grampa is far more devious than I initially gave him credit for. I spent an entire week perfecting my plan to recover that tape. I waited for a day in which he would be out of the office, timed my break-in to be during my caretaker's lunch, and in fact the plan went without a hitch."

"So you got the tape?"

Naoto nodded. "I took it apart, piece by piece, learning in the process how VHS tapes work. It was an enlightening experience—but I digress. I destroyed the tape, never thinking about how the plan had gone, perhaps, too smoothly. You see, I didn't discover until several months later that Grampa had made multiple copies..."

"Now I see where you get it from," Nanako remarked, shaking her head. "I don't think I'd want to cross your grampa. That sounds like blackmail right there."

"Yes, he can embarrass me at any moment by sending a copy of that tape to any of my friends and acquaintances." Naoto laughed softly. "But he wouldn't do that."

"Same with my dad. He once threatened to lock me in a cell overnight, but I know he never would." Nanako paused. Would he...?

"Speaking of video tapes," Naoto murmured. "I was wondering if you had any record of my Midnight Channel, err, show?"

"I didn't have the VCR then," Nanako said. "You want to know what it was like? It was your Shadow implying that you were going to have an operation."

Naoto was quiet for a moment. "What would have happened if the Shadow had succeeded?"

"What?" Nanako frowned. "It would have killed you."

"I'm glad it didn't come to that, but..."

"Wait, did you mean... 'succeeded' as in, succeeded in the operation? Your Shadow wouldn't know how to perform surgery, Shirogane-san! It would have killed you."

"I'm aware of that," Naoto said calmly. Too calmly. The detective was gripping the arm of the couch hard enough to leave marks on the cloth.

Nanako blinked hard at her friend for a long moment. _Oh, right... god, I'm such a dumbass._

Using the awkwardness as an excuse, Nanako adjusted her position until she was sitting right next to Naoto. "Did you... did you think about what your Shadow said?"

Naoto gave her a sharp glance. "Yes," she answered curtly.

Yikes, maybe she shouldn't pursue that line of thought anymore... Then again, Nanako wasn't exactly known for having tact, so she figured their friendship could survive this one thing.

"I wasn't lying to your Shadow, you know," Nanako said, hesitating only a little bit. "Whether you want to be a boy, or a girl, or even just a prince, I am a hundred percent behind you."

Naoto smiled weakly. "A prince, huh?"

"I told you, girls can be princes too!" Nanako said, lying her head against the detective's shoulder, which was hard given how short she was. "That being said, you can be a boy prince if you want. Or a boy princess!"

"I have no idea what to take from that, Nanako-san," Naoto admitted.

"I have this friend in Tokyo," Nanako started, "who had this huge identity crisis. You know, he wanted to be himself around everyone, but he couldn't, not at work, not around his family... especially not around his family."

Naoto's ears perked up at that last part. "His family did not support him?"

"No," Nanako said, closing her eyes in remembrance. That had been a pretty difficult time for her, too. "A-anyway," she continued hastily, "the deal was he was gay as heck and also an okama, but everyone just shut him down so hard that for a while, he wasn't sure who he was anymore, or who he should be. Around this time, he was living with this woman who worked in the same bar as him, because his dad had kicked him out, and she told him... us, really... that she'd gone through the same thing when she was younger. They weren't the same, though. My friend was an okama, but after a while he decided he liked being a dude, while the woman, well, she used to be a different person in the past. She told us about her time in the streets and how she changed her wardrobe and her name and became the person we met and loved."

Nanako blushed. She hadn't meant to say that last part, but clearly Shirogane-san had other concerns to pay any mind to it.

"I like my name," Naoto murmured, looking away.

Nanako raised her head and adjusted her position so as to be able to hug the detective. "What I'm saying is, whatever you want for yourself, whatever you feel is right, I will support you. Whether you need to talk to someone, or yell at someone, or look up sensitive stuff, I'm here for you, just like... just like you've been here for me, Shirogane-san. Remember that you are who you are, and I won't let anyone in the world say otherwise."

They shared a tender embrace, but Naoto's eyes were distant. "I have no idea what I want," the detective finally admitted after a few minutes of silence.

"That's fine, too," Nanako said, squeezing her friend tighter. "These things take time, and hey, I can help you figure it out. I could get you in contact with my friend in Tokyo!"

"I will consider it," Naoto said.

With the determined little nod the detective followed these words with, Nanako knew it wasn't a lie.

Naoto suddenly frowned. "Do you hear that?"

Nanako's head shot up. "Hear what? I don't hear anything."

"Precisely," Naoto murmured. "The rain's stopped."

"What?" Nanako hissed. She drew back her curtains and looked out the window. The only evidence that there had been any rain were the droplets still present on the glass.

And there were only a few minutes to spare before midnight.

Nanako began to curse in a way that would make even Aunt Seta's seasoned ears turn red. She threw herself back onto the couch with an overdramatic sigh. "I can't believe this..."

Naoto chuckled, apparently amused. "Brought down by hubris once again."

"Don't you start giving me philosophy lectures!"

In frustration Nanako went up to the TV and punched her hand right through the screen. It connected with nothing on the other side. She remembered how she'd once punched Teddie like this and her scowl deepened.

"On the bright side," Naoto said, "this allows us more time to prepare."

"True, but I would like to know for sure that Kujikawa's the next target. I mean, Kubo being on the Midnight Channel came outta the blue. The killer might try to trick us. We still haven't a damned clue as to what relationship he has to the Midnight Channel."

"The paranormal aspects of this case unsettle me," Naoto admitted. "I wonder if there is a logic to it."

"If there is, I'm sure you'll be the one to figure it out. Hey, is it raining across the street?"

Naoto looked through the blinds. "Hard to say. Your windows are fogged up."

"If it's raining somewhere else, the Midnight Channel has to still be airing."

"I've been wondering how far out it airs," Naoto said. "It seems logical that it matches the TV World influence. However, it's not something easy to test, nor probably important. I'm just curious."

"I feel you," Nanako murmured, only half listening. She was now playing with the TV, poking her fingers in and out in a rhythm. It reminded her of how this very TV had tried to suck her in that one time. What had that been? Teddie? How did she never think to ask him?

Well, too late now.

"As amusing as this light show is," Naoto said, watching her play with the TV, "I should probably be heading to sleep."

Nanako turned from the TV to give her friend a sly look. Like this was even past the detective's bedtime! She knew Naoto often stayed up later than this to review case files.

"All right then, Blue Oni," Nanako said with an overdrawn sigh. "It's supposed to rain again tomorrow. Better luck next time, eh?"

* * *

[8/26: Friday]

Aggravated by how she'd stayed up late for nothing—well, almost nothing, because talking with Naoto was always worth it—Nanako ordered her girlfriend out on a lunch date.

She met Saki right outside the liquor store, giving her a kiss in greeting, heedless of the fact that Saki's father was watching behind the door in obvious disapproval. It wasn't like he didn't know by now.

"Where do you want to go?" Saki asked.

"We're going out for tofu!" Nanako declared. She took her girlfriend's hand and began to walk her down the street.

"Tofu?" Without looking, Nanako could tell Saki was wrinkling her nose.

"Assuming that Marukyu place isn't out of tofu today," Nanako added. "Hmm, I wonder what kind my aunt likes so I can pick up some for dinner."

"If we're gonna have tofu, why not have it at Aiya?" Saki pointed out. "We're already there!"

True enough. Nanako stopped walking. They stood right in front of the door to the Chinese diner.

"But I've never been to Marukyu," Nanako protested. "I hear it's good."

"It's just tofu," Saki said. "Without a beef bowl!"

"Oh?" said Nanako. "You want a beef bowl? I can give you a beef bowl."

Saki waggled her eyebrows.

Nanako waggled hers right back at her.

Saki waggled hers faster.

This went on for some time.

* * *

The tofu shop's front entrance wasn't even half as busy as it had been the last time Nanako had been around. Risette's retirement was already old news, it seemed.

In fact, as the two girls went through the entrance, a young man came walking out. "Man, there's no one in there but the old lady. Risette isn't here after all..." he muttered.

Nanako paused in the doorway to shoot him a look, but the man was already walking away, so only his back received her questioning gaze. Then she looked into the store. A copper-haired girl wearing a kerchief was working at a sink behind the counter.

"Senpai," Nanako whispered. "That's Risette right there, right?"

Saki made a show of squinting her eyes, then rubbing her eyes and blinking them as if she couldn't see. "Hmm...." Nanako rolled her own eyes, and then Saki finally answered, "Why, I do believe so!"

"Then what the hell was that guy's problem? Is he blind or something?"

"Maybe he didn't think it was her because she's not in a swimsuit."

Before Nanako could reply, the girl in the back answered, "You know it!"

Nanako blinked, and the girl flashed her a grin before turning off the sink, drying her hands, and coming up to the counter.

"Well," said Nanako. "With that sort of security, Risette, I can see why you don't have bodyguards or anything."

"Please call me Rise," the girl said, looking a little weary. "I'm not... Risette. That's a stage name."

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I guess it must be annoying to have no one say your real name anymore, huh? Anyway, I'm Nanako, and this is my main babe Saki."

Saki waved.

"We wanna buy some tofu," Nanako concluded.

"Oh!" said Rise. She glanced somewhat worriedly at the door to the store's back area, then lifted her head, closed her eyes, and began to recite a lengthy list of today's special deals. "A-and, if you buy three pieces of ganmodoki, you'll get a free bonus!" she finished.

"What bonus?" Nanako asked. "Could it be a kiss from a cute girl?"

Saki smacked her butt for that, but it was totally worth it. Especially with how Rise grinned!

"Well, maybe~" Rise teased.

"Make it a 'definitely' and you got yourself a deal!" Nanako announced, but before Rise could reply, Saki was kissing Nanako right on the lips.

Nanako mmm'd into the lingering kiss, and when she drew away, Nanako said a sheepish, "N-nevermind, looks like I got it covered, heh heh."

All three began to giggle, and then Rise urged them to kiss again.

"If you insist," Saki murmured, and then she pulled Nanako into an even longer kiss.

"I don't remember Inaba being this exciting," Rise remarked. "I'm going to remember this tonight!"

Nanako pulled away from Saki and caught her breath before saying, "Actually, Inaba is a little too exciting lately," in a more serious tone.

Rise nodded, her copper curls bouncing along with the action. "I missed the festival because of the crowds."

"That's not what I meant," Nanako said. "You've heard about the serial murders, right?"

The former idol's pretty face twisted into a grimace. "My manager was hoping I wouldn't retire here because of that. But I want to help my grandma with the shop, so it was the only choice I had."

"How much do you know?" Nanako asked.

Rise was surprisingly on the ball about the whole ordeal, which sped things up. Nanako was getting tired of repeating the info to everyone.

"Interesting people who are on the news get targeted by the killer," Nanako said. "You fit the parameters, so I think you're going to be next. We'll find out for sure soon..." She trailed off there to glance outside the store. By the sunlight beaming down in front of the store, it seemed the clouds were clearing up. So much for the Midnight Channel showing up tonight. "Anyway, obviously, we don't want anything to happen to you, but since you don't have any bodyguards or anything, we might have to take some drastic measures to protect you."

Rise shifted her footing so that she had a hand on her hip. "Drastic how? You gonna tie me up somewhere?"

"Don't tempt her," Saki warned with a grin.

"I'm... I'm not into that!" Nanako claimed, an unexpected blush coming to her cheeks.

"You sure?" Saki asked.

"You know..." Nanako put on a thoughtful look. "We could always find out."

"I like you two," Rise said. She was grinning, too.

Nanako winked at her, which earned her another butt slap from Saki. Nanako was beginning to like those.

"Anyway," said Nanako, "I was thinking more that you should leave town for a few days."

Rise furrowed her brow. That was a no, then?

"Do you guys really think this stuff is that dangerous?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes," Nanako and Saki answered in unison.

"My brother was the second victim," Saki said without missing a beat.

"My friends..." Nanako hesitated, trying to get the facts and lies straight in her head. "I mean, my friend was kidnapped barely a month ago. He escaped by pure chance, and before that, a copycat killer even murdered a local teacher."

"I remember seeing something about that on the news," Rise admitted.

"There were other kidnapping attempts too. This really is dangerous, Rise-san."

"How do you... how do you know so much about this?" Rise asked. Damn, she was sharp, or maybe Nanako had just gotten used to the general Inaba uselessness. Now to decide how much she should tell... but she was developing a really bad track record of spilling secret TV World info.

"Can you give me a minute?" she asked instead. "I need to make a phone call. Senpai, can you stay here with her?"

Saki was puzzled, but nodded in agreement, and soon Nanako was outside dialing Chie's number.

"Hey, it's me. Is Yukiko with you?"

"Yeah," Chie answered. "Did something happen?"

"Kinda. I am—"

Just then, she saw Kanji setting up shop across the street, and so she called out to him.

"What's up, Senpai?" Kanji said, waltzing up to her.

Nanako put the phone on speaker mode and tried to scoot Kanji to somewhere more private, though in hindsight the tofu shop was exactly that. Saki was right, who wanted tofu, anyway?

"Me and Saki-senpai are talking to Rise Kujikawa," Nanako said to the phone and Kanji. "I found out she doesn't have any bodyguards, and though the plan was just to sense the mood a little bit, we're trying to convince her to leave town."

"That's big news, Nanako," Chie said. Her tone was already accusing.

"Look, the reason I called is that I'm not sure how much I should tell her, and thought I should run that by you two first."

Instant backpedaling.

"O-oh... w-well, what do you think, Yukiko?" Chie asked. There was some shuffling in the background as Yukiko seemed to get closer to the phone.

"I don't think she should know about the TV World," Yukiko said. "We already lost someone there," she added in a quiet voice.

"I agree," Nanako said. "I'd rather not endanger her like I did Shirogane-san. Idols are a bundle of issues, too, so I'm sure her Shadow would be pretty strong."

"Senpai," Kanji said somewhat awkwardly, "wouldn't it be good for her if she accepted her Shadow and joined us?"

"Not if she dies!" Nanako snapped at him. "I... sorry, I just mean, we got two lucky breaks with Yukiko and Shirogane-san, and you managed to stop your Shadow before it wrecked us, but so far our track record hasn't exactly been great!"

"I s'pose so."

Kanji was obviously feeling contrary, but he didn't say anything else.

"So, getting her to leave town," Nanako said, getting everyone back on track.

"That seems like the smart thing to do, yeah," Chie contributed. "Maybe you could tell her about the stuff Naoto-kun said on TV that one time?"

"That... is a great idea, Chie. Do we all agree we shouldn't tell her about the TV World, then?"

"I agree," Chie said.

"Me too," Yukiko added.

"Kanji-kun?"

Nanako looked at him with hopeful eyes. She got what he was saying, she really did, but... she learned from Teddie that confronting your innermost fears was no cakewalk; even Naoto'd had a hard time, and they had prepared for weeks!

"I agree too," Kanji eventually said, "but if she's nabbed, we go get her ASAP, deal?"

"Deal!" Nanako said, doing a little fist pump, and then she couldn't resist it, she went and hugged him, almost dropping her phone in the process, not that it could break the screen any further. "Thank you, everyone."

"Yeah, no problem!" Chie said, and it felt like she was smiling, but then the mood shifted abruptly. Nanako knew what it was about.

Everyone was wondering about Yosuke.

Back in the shop, Saki and Rise were exchanging hair tips and flirty banter which Nanako felt bad about interrupting, but she had to.

"So! I got something you should watch. Do you have internet in here?"

"Uh, yeah, upstairs..." Rise mumbled, sounding a bit confused.

"Then let's go."

* * *

The interview was over, but Rise continued to stare at the computer screen while it counted down the autoplay for the next video. Nanako paused it, then watched the girl blink for a bit before telling her that the situation hadn't really improved even though Naoto had proven his hypothesis correct by being the next victim.

"If anything," Nanako said, "things got even more dangerous after Shirogane-san was kidnapped."

"Why is this happening in my hometown?" Rise muttered, mostly to herself. "I might have left Inaba as soon as I got a contract, but I was born here, and my grandma has to live here." She looked up suddenly. "If I left, would the killer go after my grandma?"

"Kanji-kun, who lives across the way," – Nanako paused because Rise was nodding; she knew of Kanji – "Well, he was kidnapped, but his mom wasn't harmed in any way. In fact, she didn't know he was missing until later that night. The killer didn't have an interest in her at all. But if you're worried about that, it's not impossible to get a cop to watch over her while you're away, assuming she won't go with you."

"There's no way she'd close the store," Rise murmured with a half-smile. "Tofu runs through her veins."

"Maybe when you're out of town, you can eat real food," Nanako joked. "I bet you're eating it here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I mean, tofu's great, but only as a side dish!"

"She keeps trying to show me the business. I love how she treats me like a normal person, but I'm sorry, Grandma, tofu is just not the life for me!"

Nanako smiled at her, but then grew serious. "How soon can you leave? Tonight would be great."

Rise sucked on the end of some of loose hair from one of her pigtails. "Yeah, I think I could do that. I'd love to go somewhere my manager couldn't follow. Actually, that sounds great. Do you have a place in mind?"

"You know what," Nanako said. "Let me get you in contact with Shirogane-san. I'm sure he'll come up with a plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the longest chapter we have so far! It's over 16,000 words. 
> 
> We needed a story for Nanako to tell, and since Ore Monogatari had made the co-author cry, we decided that the Red Oni and Blue Oni story from it was a good one to use.
> 
> Next Chapter: Yosuke Is In This One
> 
> The coauthor made me title it that. It is what it is, I suppose!


	43. Yosuke Is In This One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second term of school brings Nanako face-to-face with several things she'd rather avoid.

[8/27: Saturday]

Another rainy day. To while away her anxiety over the fact that the Midnight Channel might appear tonight because of it, Nanako decided to keep herself busy by working at the gas station.

Though 'busy' wasn't quite the right word considering how quiet the place always was during the rain. The convenience store manager never seemed to care either way. He seemed to be an easy-going guy, maybe a little absent-minded. She could probably trick him into paying her twice for one shift if she wanted to. Of course she wouldn't take advantage of an old guy like that. She needed money, but that, to her rather corrupt moral compass, was Wrong with a capital W.

She didn't find Izaya by the gas pumps, so she went to the garage in the back. No one was there, and there wasn't a vehicle in the bay, either, but the garage door was open.

She wandered in, but it was more than a little unsettling to be alone in the garage, so she turned to leave and almost ran right into the guy she'd been looking for.

"Going somewhere?" Izaya said, wearing his creepy grin. There was too much teeth in it, or something that made it seem so off. She could never pinpoint the exact problem.

"Ha. Ha. You should know better than to sneak up on people."

"But your reaction is so priceless, Nanako."

Maybe it was, from his perspective. Nanako couldn't help but smile in return.

They stood there for a moment, Nanako sheltered by the garage and Izaya just outside of it so that the rain was hitting him.

"So, uh, what do you do when there's nothing to do?" she asked him.

"There is always something to do," he answered, trying to look enigmatic in his response. He had nothing on Igor, though.

Nanako paused for a moment, thinking, and then ventured, "What's your favorite part of this job?"

Izaya took some time to consider it. "Meeting new people," he said with a smirk.

Yeah, right. She could count the number of people she'd seen him interact with on one hand. And that was including herself!

"Met anyone interesting lately?" she asked innocently to call him out on that.

He began to chuckle. "Well, the most interesting person might be—" He paused as the sound of a vehicle's horn sounded out over the rain. "Ah, seems we've work to do."

"I'll get it," Nanako said, and she hustled past him, through the rain, and back to the gas station's awning.

Waiting in the bay was a moving truck. It wasn't marked with any sort of company logo, which made her instantly suspicious, but she recognized the man who came out of it: Taro Namatame. He was wearing a green jumpsuit and a green hat, also unadorned by any company logo. His family business must only get its business by word of mouth.

"I need a fill up, please..." he mumbled.

Nanako got right to it, annoyed that the truck didn't have any windows; she couldn't spy what was in the back! She didn't think this guy was the killer—according to Saki, Namatame was really broken over Mayumi Yamano's death. He often visited the liquor store and the Shiroku pub to drown his sorrows away. It wouldn't make sense for him to be so depressed if he'd killed her.

Unless maybe he regretted it... but then why continue with the kidnappings?

"You're all wet," Namatame suddenly observed, taking Nanako out of her thoughts.

She shrugged. "Comes with the territory, y'know?"

The man scrounged in his truck's cabin and produced the umbrella that she'd given him some time ago. She'd forgotten she'd even done that. He held it out to her, a shy smile on his face. "I don't... need this."

Neither do I, she thought to herself, but he looked so happy to give it to her that she accepted.

Maybe Izaya could use it.

That sudden thought made her snort all of a sudden. Namatame mistook it for a sneeze and told her to take care of herself.

"Thanks," she said, "you too!"

She waved as the truck pulled away and into the central shopping district's main street, feeling happy somehow.

A moment later, the hairs on the back of her neck rose; she felt like she was being watched. Yeah, Izaya was hiding behind the far gas pump. Well, he wasn't really hiding, per se, but somehow she got that impression anyway. He might've been watching the whole time she'd dealt with that customer.

"You shoulda offered him a lube job," Nanako chided, approaching his gas pump. "Get the shop more business on such a quiet day."

"This is the only gas station in town," Izaya pointed out. "All the business available belongs to it. If he needs further service, he'll come back at another date."

"You need to work on your sales pitch," she said. "Focus on the here and now!"

She handed the umbrella out to him and he didn't even bother to acknowledge its existence.

She smirked right back at him, since that was exactly what she'd expected him to do, and rested the umbrella against the nearby gas pump. Izaya was rather predictable regarding some things, wasn't he?

They stood together for a bit. There was a comfortable silence as they listened to the patter of rain on the awning.

"You must like this job," she eventually remarked. "You get to see the sky every day." Well, sometimes, if the clouds weren't in the way.

"I'd enjoy it more without the awning," he replied. Although his delivery had been deadpan, his smile signaled the humor of his comment.

"You can go out into the rain right now," she suggested. "I won't judge you."

Izaya's eyes were half-closed. "What would make you judge me?"

She opened her mouth to answer but abruptly cut herself off. 'If you were a bad person,' she had almost said, but then he'd make her define what a 'bad person' was. The world wasn't built of absolutes like that. Even 'good' people did bad things.

"What if I told you..." Izaya volunteered, but then he stopped with an uncertain look on his face. It was unusual for him, so Nanako jumped right on it.

"What if you told me what?"

Now he just looked annoyed.

"Look, I just want to know more about you, Izaya-san," she told him. "You don't have to get cryptic or anything. What do you do for fun, besides hang out in the rain?"

"My favorite hobby is... people watching," Izaya announced firmly.

Nanako stared at Izaya for a long moment. She could see herself under the awning, watching as people went about their lives in the rain, and in that moment, she understood the kind of person Izaya was, and smiled.

"You seem surprised," Izaya said with a dry chuckle. "Did you expect anything else?"

"I do it myself sometimes!" she said. "There's no way I could judge you for that."

"Oh?" He sounded interested now. "When did you last do it, and what did you see?"

"W-well..." she stalled. She hadn't consciously done it since that one time with Kanji-kun back in Okina. Unless watching Kanji and that boy with glasses during the festival while they were at the fishing booth counted. She decided it did. "Last week. I think I saw young love."

Young love, yes. She felt her face warm up, which was surprising to her, but really she was just _so happy_ for Kanji. Even from the distance, she'd seen their interactions. The way the glasses boy had smiled when Kanji leaned over his shoulder to help him catch the fish. The confident way in which Kanji had taken the dessert from the other boy's mouth. The smiles on both of their faces the whole time they'd been together.

She wished she'd been able to see more.

"I miss it," she said. "I miss being able to do things I used to enjoy like that."

"What's stopping you?" Izaya asked.

She scoffed. What wasn't stopping her?

Ever since she'd stepped foot in Inaba, her life had changed. As if being so far away from her family and friends in Tokyo wasn't enough, the murders had started, and she'd thrown herself headfirst into the case until nothing else really mattered. All of her time and energy had been spent training or earning money to prepare themselves for what they'd face in the TV World. And that wasn't even considering the whole 'social links' aspect—even her friendships were primarily for the case!

When Mr. Morooka died, she'd reinvented herself to cope. And then her coping had led to...

She'd even lost Loveline after that.

And every night she worried about the Midnight Channel. Was Rise even going to be safe wherever Naoto had sent her?

She had no time for hobbies, for the simple things in life anymore. She was losing herself to this case.

"Sometimes," she said quietly, "sometimes I only feel like myself around my little cousin..."

Because Souji was... he was special to her, and she didn't mind saying that. He was too young to go through everything he'd been through, but it had definitely brought forth a protective instinct in her.

"But s-sometimes," she continued. "I wonder if what I'm showing him is the real me, or just a mask that I wear to keep him from worrying."

The real me... what did she mean by that? She'd never had to face her Shadow, unlike her friends.

"If the mask cracks, will he see what I've become," she wondered, "or what I was before coming here?"

It was a question worthy of Mr. Morooka, she thought miserably.

"If you only feel yourself around your cousin," Izaya said, "then what do you feel when you're around me?"

"Peaceful," she answered, almost instinctively. "Like this soft rain."

Izaya smiled.

* * *

[8/28: Sunday]

Nanako stared at her phone's calendar function for over a minute when she realized that September was just a few days away. This meant school was just a few days away.

She hadn't done any of her summer homework!

With a sigh, she took out her books that were collecting dust from lack of use and brought them downstairs to the tea table in the living room. This was going to be her home for the next few days, so she brought down a nice, comfy pillow and her phone's charger, and then went to work.

When Souji came wandering out of his room, it occurred to her that he should have summer homework too. They could work on it together!

"Sou-chan!" she said, grinning excitedly. "Bring out your homework!"

He rubbed his sleep-tired eyes. "But big sis... I finished it already."

Her heart plummeted. How and when...? She sighed heavily. She should've known her cousin would be so responsible. He'd probably finished it all the first day of vacation!

"O-oh," Souji said, waking up a little. "B-but there's still this!"

He hustled to his room and came back with a thin stack of papers. He held them out to her and she took them.

There was a sticky note attached to the front. It was written in very sloppy handwriting, but in a way that took care to still be readable.

_'Use these if your big sis makes a pouty face.'_

A flat expression came across Nanako's features. Naoto was such a sly dog...!

"All right, then," she said briskly as she set the stack down on the tea table. "Let's get this done!"

So excited to get to work, she almost forgot to watch Tanaka's Amazing Commodities.

Today he was selling a thief knife. It made her think—not for the last time—of Yosuke. If he was still on the team, she'd buy it just for him.

As she watched Tanaka demo the blade, she wondered if she could use it. It'd be nice to have something available if something happened to her naginata. A backup weapon. This knife seemed small enough to hide on her person...

She went ahead and ordered it.

* * *

[8/29: Monday]

Nanako wasn't looking forward to another day of homework. She'd asked Saki if she would like to work with her, but Saki had pointed out—and rightfully so—that her presence would be too distracting and they'd likely get no work done.

Nanako then decided to ask the rest of the DEATH Squad if they'd like to get together to work on it, but Yukiko was such an overachiever that she'd already finished it, and knowing her relationship with Chie, Nanako assumed Chie's was finished too.

That left Kanji, so she sent him a text.

_I'm sorry, Senpai, but I've already finished mine,_ he replied.

She glared at the text. When did Kanji become such a good student—ah.

_Did your boyfriend help you?_ she texted back, a smirk on her face.

It took Kanji only seconds to respond.

_That's right, Senpai._

Nanako's smirk turned into a grin. She totally had to talk to him about it.

But... not now, she realized with a sigh. She had to get this work done.

* * *

[8/31: Wednesday]

Nanako found her school uniform sitting on the table in her room. It was a complete set with a yellow scarf and a long skirt. Aunt Seta must have bought her a new one.

She traced her fingers over the hems and patterns and buttons. She hadn't bothered to ask what had happened to the uniform she'd worn to the hospital. It had probably been torn beyond recognition. It was probably a good thing she hadn't seen it in that condition. It would bring back poor memories.

She held the skirt to her hips, admiring in a way how the skirt flowed all the way down to her ankles. There were some painful memories associated with it, yes, but looking at it now, she only remembered good things.

The bewildered stares at school the first time she wore it.

Yukiko saying she'd always wanted to try the long skirt.

Saki saying that she needed the change.

The disapproval that would surely be all over Mr. Morooka's face, were he alive, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

Nanako closed her eyes, and remembered the conversation she'd had with her mom over the phone when she'd been at the hospital.

\--

_"Honey, I had my hair dyed pink for years!" Chisato said with a merry voice. "I'm okay with a long skirt."_

_Nanako sighed in exasperation._

_"Mom, you don't understand," she said. "Those clothes were... are... me, a me that was always there, but that I tried to hide and ignore. I had the strength to do so many things, and while a lot of them were stupid things I regret, some... some, I don't."_

_"Are you saying you want to be a delinquent?" her mom asked in a neutral tone. Nanako couldn't read her at all._

_"I might already be one," she admitted._

_"Are you going to get in trouble?"_

_"...Yes."_

_"Honey—" she started, but Nanako cut her off._

_"I know what you want to say, Mom, but..." Nanako took a deep breath. "I don't think it's a phase. Remember how we talked about me, way before... w-way before everything h-happened?"_

_Damn it, why couldn't she think about him without tearing up? Why couldn't she remember the good times she spent with him, rather than regretting that he wasn't around anymore?_

_"About the boys in summer clothes?" her mom continued. That brought back one good memory, at least._

_"And the girls, yes!" she said, and her mom laughed over the line. "I talked to someone else too, that day," she continued, "a friend."_

_A friend? Was that what Izaya was to her? Yeah, Nanako supposed he was._

_"I came to realize that despite my brave face, I was afraid of a lot of things, about myself..."_

_"Everyone is, honey."_

_"...but I'm not anymore, Mom! I don't care, I really don't care, what anyone thinks of me. I don't want to screw up and hurt someone dear to me, but for the most part, fuck what everyone thinks! Fuck the people on the street! Fuck the teachers! Fuck the other students!"_

_"You mean that literally, or figuratively? Depending on the answer, I really will get worried."_

_"Mommmmmmm...!"_

_Chisato laughed some more, but when she next spoke, her voice was completely serious. "I think I understand, but what about those people that you hold so dear that you don't want to smash their skulls in? What about what they think? Are you okay with worrying them?"_

_"No," Nanako admitted, "but Mom, you just told me the answer yourself. You understand, right? And so did Aunt Seta, so did Souji-kun, so did Saki-senpai and Kanji-kun, and Yukiko. Everyone who matters understands."_

_"Not everyone, honey. You know that as well as I do."_

_Nanako thought of Yosuke, and of how their relationship seemed irreparable now, but she couldn't show that weakness to her mother... could she?_

_"Well, I'll make them understand!" she vowed instead._

_"As long as it doesn't involve smashing people's heads or fucking them, if you will excuse my French."_

_"Well, it miiiiight involve fucking them."_

_"Nanako!" her mother chided._

_"See, got you!"_

_Nanako expected another laugh, but her mother just sighed. As always, she was on point with her worries. "I wish you would understand," Chisato continued, "that although I want to give you freedom, I am starting to worry what you're doing with it. You nearly died last night, Nanako."_

_"That was a mistake," Nanako said firmly, "and a very tough lesson. It won't happen again."_

_There was a pause as her mother seemed to consider her words._

_"I trust you, honey," she finally said, "even in this. I won't say anything else about this one choice of yours. I do have a request, though."_

_"W-What is it?" Nanako stammered, swallowing hard._

_"Send me pics?"_

\--

Nanako snickered to herself at the memory. It hadn't been that funny at the time, considering the circumstances, but now she could appreciate it.

She was going to return to school tomorrow, and... wear the long skirt again. There was no going back now.

Thinking of her conversation with Mom, though, reminded her that there was no time left to stall. The summer was over now, and she had to call her father. She'd promised, and promises... were important.

She scrolled to his entry in her contact list, took a deep breath, and pressed the dial key.

"Nanako?"

Just the faint worry in his voice made Nanako want to sniffle. "Dad," she began, and stopped.

"Nanako," her dad repeated. "I thought you'd never call. But your aunt said you were doing all right."

She swallowed before speaking. "Yeah, Dad. School starts again tomorrow, and I think... I think I'm ready for it."

"That's good to hear... Did you get your homework done?"

"Yeah..." she said in a guilty tone that probably betrayed how she'd finished it all just yesterday.

"Chisato showed me a picture of your new skirt."

Nanako's breath caught, because explaining it to him would be just so difficult.

"It suits you," he continued. "But don't bother the local police."

"A-ah... I won't," she promised. "Well... maybe just Adachi-san," she added in an attempt to take back the conversation.

"Adachi-san," Dojima mused. "I remember him. You know him, Nanako? How is he doing? And my sister?"

Nanako emitted a tiny gasp. "You know about him and Auntie?"

"What?" Dojima demanded. "What _about_ him and Ryoko?"

Nanako laughed, and all the tension she'd felt from the conversation suddenly evaporated. "Dad! You should ask her yourself!"

His response was a grunt. Then, "How's your girlfriend?"

"Oh... We're doing great, Dad! Thanks for asking." Nanako paused for a moment, thinking of something Saki had said. "She likes you, by the way."

"Glad to hear it," Dojima answered in a serious tone. "Your friends over here are worrying about you. You haven't been, what did they say...? Sending them your 'phony weekly emails.'"

"Yeah, I know. Maybe I'll send one later. Oh, but please warn me if they get to the point where they're gonna make a trip out here to see me!"

"Too late for that, honey. They've already tried shaking me up for your current address."

Nanako imagined all of her Tokyo friends banding together to bully her father. It was all too easy. And hilarious. "Oh my god, Dad, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm trained for it."

He said it so nonchalantly that she had to laugh, and then he was chuckling too. She loved the sound.

"Hey, Dad...?" she said, getting serious again.

"Yes, honey?"

"I'll be careful. I promise."

She didn't explain further what she meant, and there was a moment of silence. Then, "Your aunt is going to keep me informed."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she told him, smiling to herself.

After ending the call, she heaved a heavy sigh. As with her dad, she'd been putting off contacting her Tokyo friends for far too long. They'd just seemed so far away, so remote from the current situation that—no, no more excuses. 

She flipped her phone back open and began typing.

* * *

[9/1: Thursday]

It was surreal to find Naoto downstairs in a Yasogami uniform. A boy's uniform, of course, complete with the jacket. Nanako wondered where it had come from, but possibly the detective had obtained it when Aunt Seta got the new skirt for Nanako.

And then Nanako wondered something else entirely. 'A boy's uniform, of course,' she'd thought to herself, but the 'of course' seemed incongruous when she continued to think of her friend as a woman.

"Shirogane-san," Nanako said haltingly. "I know it's too early for heavy questions, but..."

Naoto was helping Souji whisk miso in a bowl. "Yes, Nanako-san?" Naoto didn't look up.

"Y-you know how I said that you can be a girl and a prince, or even a boy and a prince? ...Or any combination?"

"Yes?" Naoto poured a small amount of hot water into the bowl and continued whisking. Souji was standing on his stepstool right between the detective's arms and watching intently.

"Well, ever since I found out you were female, I began to think of you as a woman. And, even though I told you that you can be anything... I've continued to think of you as a girl."

Naoto tapped the whisk on the bowl's edge to dry it off some, then set it down on the counter and looked down at Souji, who looked back up in return.

"But you're wearing the boy's uniform," Nanako went on, "and it looks so natural on you, and heck, Sou-chan calls you 'big bro,' and... You've never corrected him or anything."

And Souji had known Naoto was a woman from almost the start, but he'd come up with the nickname all on his own, probably from observing the detective... or maybe from his own intuition.

"What I'm trying to say is," Nanako went on. "What would you like me to think of you as? A boy, or a girl, or... well, anything in between is okay, too! I want to start getting my thoughts to line up right with you."

Naoto carefully poured the miso into a pot of simmering water and stirred it while looking at an arbitrary point in space, apparently thinking. The soup was finished cooking before there was finally a reply. "For now... as a boy."

The words were very quiet, but Nanako heard them, and she let out the breath she'd been holding during the wait. "All right," Nanako said.

And that was that.

Or maybe it wasn't. The smile on Naoto's face when he turned his head in her direction wasn't exactly a happy one. "I wish there wasn't so much importance put behind such a thing."

"Tell me about it," Nanako said.

Her comment was meant to be rhetorical, but Naoto said, "Maybe later," and his smile grew warmer. Nanako couldn't help it—she gave him a hug, and to her surprise, he hugged her back.

And then, of course, Souji had to get in on the hugging action, and it was a hug-fest all around.

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day outside, contrasting greatly with how rainy the first day of school had been back in April. Though, Nanako thought, looking up at the clear sky, she might prefer it if it was raining. Just a soft little drizzle would be perfect.

The way Souji was smiling up at Nanako while they walked hand-in-hand on the way to school, well, that was completely different, too! She hadn't even said or done anything to cheer him up. He was happy all on his own.

And Naoto was also here, and, you know, he seemed happy, too! Maybe from the conversation they had this morning, or maybe he was looking forward to his first day of school too.

Nanako hoped it was a good sign for the new term.

They reached the intersection where Souji had to part from them. "All right, Sou-chan!" Nanako said. She bent down so that she could talk to him on his level, not caring how it made her skirt drag on the ground. She patted his head. "Have a good day, okay? Give everyone some cookies, and make sure to save a few for Yuu-chan too, all right?"

"I will," the little boy promised. He looked at Naoto and waved. "Big bro... H-have fun..."

Naoto nodded with a determined smile. "I'm sure it will be an interesting day."

"B-bye!"

Together Nanako and Naoto watched Souji head off towards his school, and then they went on their own way.

"You ready for your first day?" Nanako asked Naoto conversationally. A few other students were walking near them now, also heading to Yasogami.

"It has been some time since I've attended classes," Naoto admitted. "When we arrive, I'll need to find the faculty office."

"I can show you," Nanako offered. "Hope your homeroom teacher is a good one, like Ms. Sofue or someone. At least it can't be Ms. Kashiwagi..."

Nor could it be Mr. Morooka, she thought with a mental sigh.

"Those names mean little to me right now," Naoto said, "but I'm sure I'll understand your meaning soon enough."

"Too bad you aren't a second year," Nanako murmured.

"I should be in the same class as Kanji-kun," Naoto said. "Kujikawa-san would be there too, if she wasn't already sent away to safety."

"Good, you and Kanji-kun can be study buddies. Oh, see if you can get more info on the boy he's been seeing. Unobtrusively, of course!"

Naoto looked amused at that. "Do I sense a mystery...?"

* * *

After guiding Naoto to the faculty office, Nanako made her way to the second floor and to her classroom. It was already half-filled. Chie and Yukiko weren't there yet.

But Yosuke was. He had his head down on the desk and his headphones on, some scratchy-sounding song playing a little too loudly.

She didn't give him a second thought when she sat down.

In the time before class started, Nanako listened to some of the other students talk.

"Did you hear? Risette is supposed to be at our school!"

"No way!"

"Dude, I want her to autograph my arm!"

"Your arm or your butt?" Nanako interrupted.

The boy who wanted the autograph stared at her for a moment, and then grinned. "Only if Risette herself tattooed it!" he declared.

"As if!" the boy's friend answered.

As they laughed, Nanako's mind was still focus on butts, and in fact zeroed in on a particular student's as he walked up to the chalk board and checked whether there were enough supplies for the teacher, even though the teacher wasn't in the room yet. This student was the male class representative for Classroom 2-2, and Nanako's eyes widened when she recognized those glasses—it was Kanji's boyfriend!

Hah, she wouldn't need Naoto's help at all to learn more about him!

When the boy walked down the aisle between desks, she totally gave him a thumbs up and a wink. He didn't seem to know what to make of that, opting instead to ignore her and continue on his way to his seat in the back of the room.

She shamelessly checked him out when he passed by her desk. One thing was certain: his butt rated higher than Yosuke's.

She began to daydream about taking him to the TV World bathhouse. Of course they couldn't do that, but hey, he already had glasses...!

"Wh-what's got you so excited, Nanako?"

Nanako blinked out of her steamy reverie to find Chie taking her seat at the desk right next to her.

"Or do I want to know?" Chie finished.

To answer, Nanako slowly looked Chie up and down. Mmm, yes, the summer school uniform still did things to her.

She was definitely going to have to hang out with Saki this afternoon! Heh heh.

Class began soon after that, giving Nanako no opportunity to leer at any of her fellow classmates. The teachers didn't waste any time at all, lecturing in full force in every class. Well, minus Mrs. Nakayama who complained mostly that her husband hadn't taken her anywhere during the break.

During English class, Mr. Kondo taught them new vocabulary words. Since it was nearing lunchtime, he tried to retain everyone's attention—for of course by then it was wavering—by directing the subject to favorite foods.

"Speaking of meat," Mr. Kondo said, "Well, I know Satonaka is paying attention now, eh?"

He laughed at his own joke, and Chie shifted in the seat next to Nanako for being made fun of like that. Nanako nudged her in support and in fact began to write her a note that said, 'I could use a beef bowl.' She put a winky face at the end, remembering how she and Saki had joked about that. They were both so corrupt!

She passed it to Chie while Mr. Kondo was still talking. Soon enough she'd have Chie corrupted too.

"That's why I'll call on Hanamura instead!" Mr. Kondo announced. "What kind of meat is venison?"

Behind her, Nanako heard Yosuke reluctantly – by his sigh – stand up from his seat to answer the question.

"Uh..." Yosuke stalled.

She wondered if he knew the answer. Even though she'd only half paid attention, she'd heard it when Mr. Kondo explained it a few minutes ago, but Mr. Kondo was rather chatty and he'd added so much other trivia that it was easy to miss.

She also wondered if she should she help Yosuke out by whispering the answer. She didn't want him to feel indebted to her in any way, or to think that she was trying to apologize to him somehow. They weren't friends anymore. He was just another classmate now.

That thought had her nibbling her lower lip with an uncertain grimace. It was something she was just going to have to get used to.

But... she could still help. She opened her mouth—

"All kinds of meat," Yosuke said suddenly. "Hunted stuff, I mean."

Oh.

* * *

When lunchtime came, the glasses-wearing male class representative gave the classroom a cursory glance before he sneaked out the back door.

Nanako couldn't help it. She got up and followed him. Chie gave her a look that asked if she should follow, but Nanako just waved her off. She had prey to stalk.

Yep, the boy was totally heading to the farthest stairwell and downstairs to the first years' floor. She took out her phone and pretended she was texting with it, but she needn't have bothered trying to come up with a cover. He never looked behind him.

And hell yes, there was Kanji waiting for him on the stairwell's mid-level. The two boyfriends were going to have lunch together right there on the stairs.

Nanako turned away with a grin. She didn't need to eavesdrop. Even if she really kinda wanted to...!

She wasn't even back at her classroom yet when she suddenly got a text message on her phone.

_KANJI-KUN & BOY CURRENTLY EATING. DISH APPEARS TO BE FISH CAKES FURNISHED BY BOY._

Nanako couldn't help it. She laughed out loud. Naoto must have followed Kanji out of his classroom and was observing them from the first floor.

Another text soon followed.

_THIS IS MOST FASCINATING._

Isn't it? Nanako thought to herself, the grin on her face impossible to remove for the entirety of lunch.

* * *

Thoughts of that young love kept Nanako's mood buoyant for the rest of the school day, at least until class let out: she was assigned cleaning duty.

With Yosuke.

And another couple of kids too, but really? She sighed and just accepted that fate wanted her to suffer. It was going to be the most awkward thing ever.

"Look," Yosuke said, the first words he'd said to her in over a month. "I'll sweep if you clean off the chalkboard."

He wasn't looking at her. She didn't say a word, just went to work. The two other kids were assigned to clean out the classroom's trash cans and wipe down the desks with some antibacterial wipes.

They were hard at work when Kanji's boyfriend came in the room and stood in the doorway. "Nanako-kun?" he said.

"Yeah?" she answered casually, pretending not to notice how Yosuke was pretending not to care about this interruption. The other two students weren't pretending at all: they stopped their work entirely to watch.

"Ms. Sofue wants to see you in the faculty office. You should go now."

Nanako glanced at her partially-cleaned chalkboard and then at the others present. Yosuke was still sweeping.

"I'll finish up here," the guy in glasses said. "It's my responsibility as the class representative."

Nanako smiled despite herself. What a sweet boy Kanji had found!

On her way downstairs, Nanako reflected on how she had no idea what the history teacher wanted to talk to her about. Ms. Sofue was probably the most normal teacher in the school, even with her Egyptian headdress. Maybe it was about Nanako's long skirt? She doubted it—the woman would've said something a long time ago. And it wasn't violating dress code or anything, no matter what Ms. Kashiwagi claimed.

It could be about grades, though. Nanako wasn't the best at history. Hopefully she wasn't about to get a lecture about studying!

Nanako pushed open the door to the faculty office to find Ms. Sofue and another teacher she didn't know at Mr. Morooka's desk.

She froze at the sight.

They were cleaning his desk out.

"Ah, Nanako," Ms. Sofue said upon seeing her. "We found this. I thought you would like to have it."

The teacher picked up a paper that had been set aside on the desk and handed it to Nanako, whose eyes were too fixed on the half-empty desk to give it much notice.

Finally she tore herself away from the sight and moved out of the faculty office. She walked down the hall a few steps in a daze before finally focusing her eyes on the paper in her hand.

And she stopped abruptly and stared. It was the haiku essay she'd turned in so long ago.

At the top of the page, in Mr. Morooka's sloppy handwriting and red pen:

_You're always fighting_  
_Your meaningless existence_  
_...Keep up the good work_

It was a haiku. He'd written her a haiku.

She clutched the paper in her trembling hands with so much strength that she crumpled it. Tears she didn't know she still had began to run down her face. She fell against the wall and slowly slid down against it until she was on the ground, curling her head between her legs and crying and crying and crying.

* * *

Far, far away Nanako heard the voice, the time stop voice. It was telling her—something, she couldn't hear. She looked up, just barely, from the floor, saw the wavering vision of someone in a blue pinstripe suit walking away from her...

Then she woke up.

Her eyes were just as bleary as they had been in the dream. She was in an unfamiliar room, but the walls were definitely Yasogami yellow, so she was still in the school.

Oh... this was the infirmary.

"Hey... You all right?"

Nanako turned her head and found Saki at her side. She couldn't manage to smile at her girlfriend.

Saki pulled her into a hug on the infirmary's bed. The older girl rubbed her back and said nothing, just waited as long as it might take for her to recover.

* * *

Nanako let Saki walk her home, although they walked in silence. When they arrived at the Seta residence, Nanako invited her inside, for once having no lewd intentions in mind with the invitation. This might have been a good thing, because Aunt Seta was relaxing at the kitchen table, apparently waiting for her. The woman wasn't alone: Naoto and Souji were also present.

And so was some Aiya takeout.

"Nanako-chan, are you hungry?" Aunt Seta invited her to sit. "And Saki-chan, you're welcome to stay. Ah, let me get out another chair."

While Aunt Seta was opening a closet, Saki pulled Nanako in close by her waist, giving her a small hug before settling her into a chair. "Please eat something," she whispered.

Nanako nodded and grabbed a pot sticker, thankful that her aunt knew her well enough by now to know she couldn't resist her favorite food item.

"Big sis... Are you... okay?" Souji asked, looking up at her with his soulful eyes.

"Not really," she answered. "Sou-chan..." She paused, not sure how she wanted to reassure him this time that she was going to be okay.

"The doctor called from school... But Saki-san said you were okay. That's why... Mama's home."

"Yes, they said you'd collapsed after school," Aunt Seta informed them. She pulled another chair into the room and Saki took it from her. "But they weren't sure why."

Nanako let go of the crumpled paper in her hand. She'd been holding it so tightly this whole time that her fingers had little feeling left in them. She laid it out on the table and smoothed it out. "You know my homeroom teacher died, right? Well..."

Nanako went on to explain how Mr. Morooka had assigned her a paper because she'd fallen asleep in class. And she'd only just now got it back, and... it was like his last message to her, and she hadn't been ready for it in the least.

"I miss him so much," she confided. "I-I mean, I know he was an awful teacher some of the time—a lot of the time—but he didn't deserve..." She trailed off.

Aunt Seta was smiling sadly at her in sympathy. "It's never easy."

Naoto was looking at her, too. Maybe the speech had explained at least some of her motivations regarding that dark and stormy night.

And Nanako remembered that everyone present at the table had been personally affected by someone's death. Aunt Seta's words weren't just for her.

"Can we... go visit them?" Nanako asked quietly, hoping her aunt would know who else she meant.

"Yes..." Aunt Seta answered. "Yes, of course."

* * *

[9/2: Friday]

Nanako wasn't very talkative on the way to school the next morning. Seeing Souji's Loveline umbrella didn't do anything for her. Even the idea of sharing an umbrella with Naoto didn't help. Apparently the detective had left his umbrella at the station on accident, but Nanako suspected he was just saying that so that he could offer to share and try and cheer her up. But Nanako just pulled out the extra umbrella she'd received from Namatame and handed it to him.

The morning passed with her simply going through the motions. When a teacher called on Chie, she couldn't really help because she had been zoning out, but fortunately Yukiko had her back.

Maybe the girlfriends were doing okay after all. The thought brought a temporary smile to her face.

When lunch came around, the rainstorm building up outside was the primary topic of conversation.

"This rain might last all night," Chie remarked, trying to share a significant look with both Yukiko and Nanako. They'd turned their desks together to eat lunch as a trio.

At a glance, it was definitely dark outside the windows, but midnight was still half a day away, so Nanako just shrugged. They'd been robbed of the Midnight Channel the last time it'd rained. It could easily happen again—though she would stay up for it, anyway.

Due to a lack of response, Chie began to chat with Yukiko about what she was having for lunch, and Nanako soon stopped paying attention, her mind elsewhere.

And then her phone began to buzz with a barrage of text messages.

_TODAY'S LUNCH TONKATSU PROV. KANJI-KUN._

_TAKING TURNS FEEDING EACH OTHER._

_UPDATE: KANJI-KUN GAVE BOY SMALL GIFT. COULD NOT SEE WHAT._

_BOY SEEMS ECSTATIC._

Although Nanako truly wanted to be amused by all this, she wasn't in the mood, so she powered down her phone after reminding Naoto not to neglect his own lunch, and then focused on her own.

* * *

The rain showed no signs of stopping when school let out, not that Nanako noticed. She didn't hear when Chie complained that her umbrella wouldn't be enough for it. When Nanako went downstairs, she didn't push her way through the crowd of students loitering at the shoe lockers, torn between their desire to leave school and their reluctance to brave the downpour. Instead she wandered down the hallway, her mind absent.

She ended up at the faculty office. The door was left open. Inside, a janitor wearing rubber gloves and an apron was scrubbing Mr. Morooka's desk with a sponge. The scent of industrial strength lemon cleaner came to her nostrils. The desk would be someone else's soon. Some new teacher would use it...

She couldn't handle it.

She tore down the hall, the pounding of her shoes against the floor as she ran louder than the rain. She turned into the practice building and didn't stop until she was in the band club room.

And there, the piano, her piano... It was still there despite the band club leader's threats.

It stood untouched, as if waiting for her.

She threw herself onto the stool in front of it, slammed open the fall board, and immediately began to pound out a fast-moving piece from Chopin on the keys.

As she played, the storm outside continued to rage on.

Unknown to her, the band club members had planned to meet today. They were gathered outside the room now, afraid to come in and disturb her furious playing.

Her hands ran along the keys, easily playing the song from memory. It wasn't perfect due the poor old piano's condition, but to her it was sweet release.

When the club room door opened, she paid it no attention. She was lost in the music now, playing with all of her soul.

But even in this state, she became aware of an acoustic guitar in the background trying desperately to accompany her.

Lightning struck close by, deafening everything in the wake of its thunder. She continue playing, heedless of the ringing in her ears left by it. The guitarist seemed distracted by the thunder, but rapidly caught on to the segment she was playing.

Nanako's fingers were beginning to sting from her speed and from lack of practice, but still she played on, and although not always in sync, the guitarist matched her.

Then she was at the finale. A quieter segment, and then... She pressed down hard on the keys, once, twice, three times—the abrupt ending to the composition.

After that, she leaned over the piano, exhausted and panting for her breath. Her blouse clung to her from the sweat pouring from her body.

The thunderstorm seemed to calm outside, at least for a moment.

She turned her head towards the guitarist.

The serene expression on Yosuke's face matched her own.

* * *

The rain quieted into a drizzle. Nanako and Yosuke had relocated to the Junes food court. They'd both paid for their own drinks and were now... sitting across from each other at the canopied table and not really even drinking them.

The most awkward of awkward silences ensued. She'd look at him, then he'd look away, and then he'd look at her, and she'd look away. Neither of them knew where to start.

But someone had to start, so eventually Nanako spoke up. "Yosuke... I'm tired of this."

"Of what?"

She waved a hand. "Of us, like this."

He grimaced and looked away again. His crossed arms seemed to be held tighter all of a sudden.

When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. "...What made you do it, Nanako?" he asked. "Go out into the rain that night, into the TV World? I don't understand."

Nanako laughed bitterly but choked out a sob on accident. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the canopy above the table. "I'd like to punch you because you don't know," she croaked, "but truth be told, I don't know anymore either."

"Does it have to do with King... with Mr. Morooka?"

She smacked the table with her palm. "You never had any idea how I felt when Mr. Morooka died, Yosuke. You thought this... this!" She stood up and indicated her clothing while shaking in anger. "You thought this was about attention and control and me being a delinquent, but it was the only way I found to, to cope."

She slumped back down into her seat, the anger fading.

Yosuke blinked at her several times. "You... you never told me," he said in a small voice.

She stared at him with dead eyes.

His voice grew higher. "You never talked to me! How was I supposed to know? I don't... I can't... you're you, Nanako. Bossy, obnoxious, strong..." he trailed off.

She finished it for him: "A terrible friend."

Now Yosuke slammed a fist on the table, making far more noise than she did.

"No!" he shouted, so loudly that it startled her more than his hitting the table. "I mean, sometimes..." he continued in a more normal tone of voice. "Sometimes it's hard figuring you out, but you helped me too, you helped all of us. Do you think I'd have gone with you that night if, if I hated you or something?"

"Yosuke," she said, not looking at him, "think about the pain I put you all through. Mr. Morooka died and I wanted my revenge, and I forgot all about you. I k-killed Teddie." She choked up saying the bear's name.

"...But you won't say you're sorry," Yosuke said suddenly.

She blinked away the wetness in her eyes as the anger returned. "How can I be sorry? How would me being sorry change anything? I fucked up, and that's that! I fucked up because I'm me! How can I be sorry for being me?!"

She was breathing heavily now. "My being sorry... won't bring Teddie back."

Yosuke sat down, crossed his arms, and looked away.

The awkward silence returned. The rain drizzling on the canopy wasn't very loud, not in comparison to how it would be at the gas station's awning, but it was louder than anything else in the area.

"That punch hurt," he said.

"You deserved it."

The silence returned. 

Then, Yosuke asked quietly, "Do you... do you regret anything?"

Nanako looked out at the rain. "I regret everything."

"If you wanted revenge on that Kubo kid, why did you send us after him that night?"

"I'd have killed him. I'd do it right now, if he was here." She thought about it for a moment. "But I guess on some level, I knew I'd die." She quirked her mouth. "I won't apologize to you, Yosuke, not for... not for that... but I do want to thank you."

"What?"

"If it wasn't for you, I'd have died. You called everyone and helped me break into Junes and risked everything because I wasn't listening to you, so... thank you."

He huffed. "Didn't you just finish saying how I deserved that punch?"

"Yeah well, a guy like you deserves all the punches he gets."

He glared at her, and then she grinned, and he chuckled. No, it was more of a giggle than a chuckle, really.

"W-well, I won't apologize to you either," he said. "But..."

"But?"

"I missed you."

Nanako canted her head to the side and stared.

"I missed you and everyone else," he further explained. "I was here in Inaba before you, but it felt like they were your friends, not mine. It was awful, not having anyone to talk to. All summer, all I did was work and practice with my guitar." 

_At least you have something to show for it,_ Nanako thought.

Yosuke blinked down at the table. "That and..." he trailed off.

When he didn't continue, Nanako prompted, "Yeah?"

"Souji." 

Nanako blinked herself and made a 'go on' gesture.

"I was heading home from work one day," he explained, "when he ran up to me. He was going home from cram school with some chubby kid, and... he asked me why I didn't go to the beach with everyone." 

Yosuke sighed after that and looked, unseeing, up at the canopy.

"That kid..." he went on quietly. "He was worried about me because he hadn't seen me in a while."

'A while.' That was an understatement. Nanako didn't attempt to calculate how long it must have been.

"We didn't get to talk much," he said. "That chubby kid's mom demanded to know who I was, and, uh, I didn't really want to deal with that. After my shift, I'd had enough of her type for the day. But anyway, imagine this: a few days later, I'm sitting in front of Souzai Daigaku, listening to music. My eyes are closed, and suddenly there's something tugging my hand, and I look and it's Souji again. I stare at him and then he's offering me this piece of warabimochi he'd been given."

_Souji is too precious,_ Nanako thought as she smiled while simultaneously biting her lower lip. 'You can be friends with anyone,' she'd told him, and she didn't regret it, but the fact that all this had happened without her knowing made her feel...

It made her feel like Aunt Seta, she realized, biting down harder and drawing blood. Not knowing what Souji was up to, even though he was only six years old. Not knowing what Souji was up to, despite making an effort to know. Of course he'd seen his... he'd seen Yosuke around the town, and of course he'd offered his best to him.

What was it that Nanako had thought, back at the flood plain? That she couldn't expect Yosuke to just hang out with her little cousin when they weren't even speaking? Yosuke was definitely a better person than she was. She only wondered whether he'd said anything to the boy about their falling out.

"He thought I looked hungry," he continued, oblivious to her thoughts.

Nanako was raising a hand to clean the blood before Yosuke could notice, when suddenly lightning struck, taking the entire food court into a blinding flash. During that brief moment, she thought she'd seen something on his face.

...Tears?

Nanako blinked and looked again, but Yosuke seemed perfectly fine. Must have been her imagination.

"I'm glad you didn't push him away," Nanako said, deciding that she ought to say something. "I wasn't sure what you'd think, when he asked me whether he could hang out with you, and I definitely didn't want you to think I was pawning him onto you or something, but I also didn't want to ask."

"Why?" Yosuke asked.

"I promised not to," she replied. 

Understanding dawned on his face.

A few moments later, he glanced down at the table, idly running a finger over its surface. "...We talked a few more times after that. I guess we just kept crossing paths? When you get right down to it, everything you need in Inaba is either here or at the shopping district."

Although that was true, Nanako wondered why she hadn't run into Yosuke herself. 

Then again, she hadn't been seeking him, as apparently Souji had.

"You should bring him here again," Yosuke suggested. "I wonder if he'll still be afraid of the slide."

"Yeah, I should," she muttered. 

Except the exact reason she hadn't brought Souji to Junes was the chance that they'd run into Yosuke there. She sighed, because now it turned out that wasn't even a problem and she was still very much conflicted about it.

"I'll buy him another root beer float," Yosuke added.

She turned a sharp look on him. "You don't have to do that."

"It's not a big deal. I get a discount, remember?"

Nanako remembered; a sudden breeze made the rain reach her back.

"Besides, he's already running up a tab. I bought him a steak croquette. He thought I looked hungry, but I thought he looked hungry. He's a skinny kid, or maybe he looks that way compared to that friend of his."

Speak for yourself, Nanako wanted to say, for Yosuke was a bit of a reed himself, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Hey, Nanako," he said suddenly, his tone just different enough that she knew he was changing subjects. "Do you remember that night I called you out to the shopping district? It was right after I got my Persona."

"Yeah, we talked about Chie's Shadow. Why?"

"It was the first time you really helped me. Well, I mean, aside from when I was arrested. It was the first time you helped me on an emotional level, I suppose."

She vaguely recalled how his Shadow had given him a lot of doubts that she'd dispelled that night. Though in hindsight, his Shadow and his problems were nothing if not small time. It had only picked up on the insecurities he had been aware of himself—being useless to the team and being left behind and wanting his life to be exciting. The way he treated girls, or his thoughts about people who were different, like Kanji or even Nanako herself... They hadn't turned up, because they weren't problems to him.

Nanako feared the day she ever faced her Shadow. It would have a lot to say, and none of it pretty.

She tugged at the scarf in her hair in agitation. At least the wind had calmed and her back was no longer getting rained on, though the uncomfortable chill it had brought still remained.

"Nanako, your scarf," Yosuke said abruptly. "Was it your idea to wear it like that?"

She paused to think it over, but she honestly couldn't remember, and told him so.

"Was it Saki-senpai?" he asked. "She always liked styling her own hair, so..."

He sounded too casual; Nanako could see right through him. Saki-senpai... that was the other thing Yosuke's Shadow had talked about. "Yosuke," she said, her voice even.

"Tell me, Nanako," he said. "Back then you said that Saki-senpai had a boyfriend. Did you lie to me?"

"No," she answered firmly. "Look, it's not really my place to tell you this, but since I think you need to hear it..." She sighed, then took a deep breath. "Saki-senpai was dating a college boy she'd met at a club in Okina, but after her brother died, he didn't really know how to deal with all that, and instead of trying to figure it all out, he just pretended he was busy with his classes so that he wouldn't have to talk to her. Eventually they just stopped talking altogether." She paused to let him mull that over. "She and I didn't get together until sometime after we rescued Kanji-kun. That's when she was ready to move on from him."

"Oh," he said.

She almost asked him a question then—do you still like Saki-senpai?—but she caught herself in time. She wouldn't break her promise.

"It's all right," he said, sounding resigned. "I'm not even sure if I liked her like that."

She waited for him to continue.

"I've had a lot of time to think," he said. "About everything, not just the stuff we've been through. Did you know that next month, I'll have lived in Inaba for a year?" He paused, blinking at her as if to make sure she was listening. "Saki-senpai is one of the first people I really connected with here. We met at the Culture Festival. She comforted me after I'd overheard some people talking shit about me and my family..."

It probably had been hard for him, at that—moving in the middle of the school term to a hick town where the locals thought Junes was a sign of the apocalypse.

Yosuke sighed. "Looking back, I totally misunderstood her intentions. My sixteen-year-old self's wishful thinking." 

"We grow from these experiences," Nanako said. "Who knows, probably next year your eighteen-year-old self will think your seventeen-year-old self was a dumbass."

His eyes regarded her half-lidded, and his small smile appeared coy. "Probably," he agreed. "Anyway, I don't blame Saki-senpai at all or anything." He sighed again. "I just wish a lot of things had happened differently."

"Amen to that."

The rain continued to patter on the canopy in the ensuing silence.

Yosuke abruptly leaned forward in his seat. "I wanna be back on the team," he said. "Your 'promise' to me... Cancel it."

She regarded him carefully before answering. "Are you absolutely sure?" 

"I can't just forget what we've been through together. I've tried, but it's not working." His coy smile returned, and he added, "Besides, someone's got to keep you in line."

"Yeah, Shirogane-san," she quipped automatically. She continued on a more serious note. "Things are going to be different. I've told Chie the same thing. We're going to take it slow and carefully in the TV World, and I won't keep secrets from the team anymore."

"You've really changed," he remarked. "I... I don't know if that's good or bad."

"Good, hopefully!" she said, following it with a sigh of her own. "My birthday's next month, y'know, and I know for sure my seventeen-year-old self is gonna think my current self is a dumbass."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," he told her, but he laughed anyway. 

He uncrossed his arms and held out his hand across the table. Nanako stared at it for just a moment before placing her hand on it. They shook.

"Welcome to the team," she said, and he smiled at her. This time, she knew she wasn't imagining the tears in his eyes.

* * *

> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Miyuki S.  
>  Subject: Miyu-chan~~~~
> 
> _Hey gurl, it's been a while! You haven't forgotten who this is, right? I know you'd never forget that night of passion under the stars we had~~_
> 
> _;)_
> 
> _Jokes aside, I just wanted you to know that I'm, well, I'm doing all right. I got into an accident and was in the hospital for a bit, but I'm fully recovered now so don't worry! The worst part is that it made me miss most of my summer break. But I still made time to go to the beach, hehe. I'm going to develop a healthy tan. Did you go to the summer festival? You'd better have pictures of everyone in kimono!_
> 
> _School starts up again tomorrow, can you believe it? I'm not ready, tbh. I barely put a dent into my homework. I'd ask you for answers, but I know we're in the same boat. Also different schools, but who cares, right? I bet you're learning about triangles and shit just the same._
> 
> _Anyway, let the gang know that I'm thinking of them. I miss you all a lot, y'know? At times I really can't wait to be a third-year._
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Fujioka N.  
>  Subject: Please leave my dad alone
> 
> _Fu-kun, my dad didn't name you, but I know you're the one who went to the house and demanded to know where I was. I'm fine, I promise. You know I won't be back until March. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping in touch, and I really don't have a good excuse._
> 
> _Truth is, I fucked up, and fucked up big. I got into a fight that I couldn't handle, and I ended up in the hospital. No no no, don't get on your motorcycle or anything—I'm fine, and there's no one you need to fight for me. It's difficult to explain, but I will tell you everything as soon as I get back. I don't know if you'll believe me—I know I wouldn't—but it's quite a story._
> 
> _Keep an eye on my dad, okay? He pretends not to like you, but underneath it all, he does. I think he might be lonely._
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Hana S.  
>  Subject: Love Love Love and Love Some More!
> 
> _Hana-san,_
> 
> _How are you and Gin-chan doing? I haven't heard from you in a while, so I'm just assuming you're doing all right. Send me some photo booth pictures and pretend I'm there, please!_
> 
> _On my end, I wanted to tell you that I now have a girlfriend too! I don't think I've ever been in a relationship that felt this natural. Her name is Saki and she gets me, she really gets me, and you know how rare that is. Strangely, I don't have any pictures of her! I'll have to remedy that in the future. Oh, but look, I do have these babies..._
> 
> _It's Souji-kun, my adorable cousin! Do you see any family resemblance? I think it's in his nose._
> 
> _But I know you aren't going to be distracted that easily. You saw right through my phony weekly emails, after all. Do you still want me to send them? I can make them less phony, maybe. Is 20% less phony enough?_
> 
> _................._
> 
> _*sigh*_
> 
> _There's a lot more I need to say, but I can't find the words. Not now. I promise that when I get back, I'll tell you everything in person._
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Saeko T.  
> 
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Tamaizu N.  
> 
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Hiroko H.  
> 
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Tamaki U.  
> 
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Takayuki O.  
> 
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Nariaki I.  
> 
> 
> \--
> 
> From: Nanako D.  
>  To: Sukuro M., Moeko H., Kiyo H., Hidetoshi Y., Bussho H., Masahiko S., Chika M., Hir[...]  
> 

_Yours truly (but not really),  
Nanako_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Scattering Ashes


	44. Scattering Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freedom. Impulse. Revenge. Orgia. Discourse. Perfection. BRANDY.

[9/3: Saturday]

The next morning saw Nanako feeling much better. Rise's silhouette had been on the Midnight Channel, and Yosuke had even texted her about it (though he'd called her 'Risette'). They were right on the money, though Nanako didn't allow herself to feel too proud of it, considering what had happened with Naoto.

But maybe she didn't look all that much better, because she caught Souji trying to sneak a cookie into her school bag. She'd thought they'd eaten all of them by now, but apparently not.

"I-I was saving it for you," Souji stammered, trying to hide the cookie behind his back. "W-wanted it to be... a surprise."

"Just the fact that you thought of me cheers me up," she told him, picking him up in a sweeping embrace and rubbing her nose with his. "But that's your cookie. Unless... why don't we split it in half?"

The good thing about pterodactyls was that with their big wings, the cookie was easy to split into two big chunks. She wrapped each half of the cookie in plastic and stuffed hers in her skirt's pocket for later.

"By the way, Sou-chan~" she sang while putting the cookie into his backpack. "You can see your partner whenever you want, okay? I know it's been a while."

The boy perked up. "O-oh! Umm... do you think he can go training with Chie-san? Tomorrow... It's Sunday, but... we haven't done that in f-forever..."

"Our training sessions are supposed to be a girl's day out!" Nanako said. "But then again, we've invited Shirogane-san, haven't we?"

"Ah," said Naoto, looking for all the world like it was the last thing on his mind. "If you insist..."

"I don't know." Nanako stroked her chin in thought. "If we all get together for that, we might as well train in... well, you know. But if you wanna be a tough detective, we've gotta build you up some muscle."

Naoto's eyes narrowed, and for a moment Nanako worried about his response, but then he nodded. "Yes, that's true. I won't be taken by surprise again. Yes, I'll join you and Chie-san."

"All right," Nanako said, somewhat uncertainly, because with Naoto's determination, she had no excuse to be lazy herself. Hopefully it wouldn't come down to running with Chie every morning before school. She wasn't sure she could survive that!

"Oh, big sis!" Souji interrupted her thoughts. "The mail... a package came for you yesterday." He hustled to the low cabinet in the kitchen where he'd hidden the package away and retrieved it.

"Thanks, Sou-chan," she said, accepting it.

Ah, it was probably that knife from Tanaka's Amazing Commodities. She didn't open the package. Hmm... should she give it to Yosuke now that he was back on the team? She kind of wanted to keep it as a backup weapon like she'd planned.

But maybe she could use a switchblade or brass knuckles instead. No one would expect better of her, that's for sure.

She went upstairs and set the box on the table in her room to deal with later.

* * *

Second period was only half-over when the school's PA system sounded out.

_Nanako Dojima, please come to the faculty office. Your aunt is on the phone._

Nanako felt everyone's eyes on her, and an embarrassed blush came to her face. What the heck could the woman want? Aunt Seta knew her cell number... The puppet in Mr. Hosoi's hand told her to get a move on, so she headed out of the classroom.

She hesitated before opening the door to the faculty office, scowling at the thought that Mr. Morooka's desk was probably repurposed by now. With a sigh she opened the door and found a school administrator whose name she did not know talking to someone on the phone. The man's eyes brightened to see her. "Dojima?" he asked. "Your aunt."

She nodded and took the phone from him. "Uh, hello?"

"Nanako-chan!" Aunt Seta said warmly. "How are you today?"

"Fine?" Nanako answered in a 'what is all this about?' sort of voice.

"I'm just calling to check up on you," Aunt Seta explained. "After the other day, you understand. The school called me, so I thought I could get ahead and call the school instead."

Nanako smiled into the phone. Aunt Seta cared enough to call like this? She was flattered. "Yeah," she said. "I'm fine. And thanks for the takeout. It was great."

"All right, then. Have a good day at school, all right? Don't hesitate to call if you need me."

"S-sure," Nanako said. "Umm... good luck at work!"

Nanako cradled the phone, feeling happy. She returned to class with a definite spring to her step.

* * *

At lunch, when the three girls turned their desks together, Nanako turned her own desk to the side, pushed Chie's back a bit with her foot, and then pulled Yosuke's forward, even with the boy still sitting in it. Yosuke looked surprised, but she was smiling at him, and he grinned sheepishly in response.

"Yosuke?" Chie asked, taken somewhat aback at the sight of him interacting with Nanako. "Huh. Welcome back!"

"Yeah, hi," Yosuke said, scratching the back of his neck.

"You're back...?" Yukiko murmured, partially to herself, but everyone heard her.

"Yeah," he said.

"I hardly noticed you were gone," Yukiko added.

"Ouch," he said, but he chuckled after.

"Yeah," said Nanako. "Yosuke's back. I've already got him up to speed. By the way, you know Rise-san was on the Midnight Channel. This time," she began, but then she sighed. "Well, I can't know for sure, but this time the kidnapper should be thwarted since she's out of town and TVs don't work out there."

"They don't?" Yosuke asked.

Ah, maybe she hadn't got him a hundred percent up to speed. There was just so much going on.

"I'll send you a map of the TV World's influence. It's only Inaba that has access to it, apparently."

"I wonder how long the Midnight Channel will keep showing her until it gives up," Chie said.

That was a good question. "Maybe when the TV news stops talking about her," Nanako suggested. "I suppose we'll find out. I mean, we've never been successful at preventing a kidnapping before."

"I'm worried that the killer won't give up that easily," Yosuke said. "Finding her out of town and then drugging her until he's brought her back into town so that he can put her in the TV doesn't seem impossible."

"It seems like a lot of effort just to keep his MO," Nanako said, "but I don't disagree. However, Shirogane-san assures me that he'll know immediately if something happens to Rise. I didn't press him for details."

"I wonder if it'll be over before the school trip," Yosuke mused.

"What school trip?" Nanako asked, wide-eyed. This was the first she'd heard of it!

"Next Thursday we're going to Tatsumi Port Island," Chie explained. "It's part of the cultural exchange program."

"Didn't that place have that weird mind disease a few years ago?" Nanako frowned. "Sounds like the perfect vacation destination."

"Yeah, well, it's not really a vacation. We're going to visit a private school and get lessons there."

"Well, a change of scenery is always nice, and it's not like I'm attached to any of our teachers," Nanako said, but she slowed down as she said it. That hadn't always been true. She sighed. "I wonder if the Midnight Channel airs outside Inaba. Though it might not rain when we're there. Why is this all localized to Inaba anyway? Did something important happen here?"

"Oh, like a mass murder?" Yukiko suggested. "The ghosts of the fallen are causing all this trouble with the TV?"

"Y-Yukiko!" Chie said in a high-pitched voice. "That's terrible! And it hasn't happened! ...Has it?"

"I dunno," Nanako said. "You tell me!"

"And the burial site is Junes," Yosuke said. "It only makes sense with how evil everyone thinks it is. Besides, weird things are always happening there."

"Like a bin of pink speedos moving from the back of the store to the front in the space of an hour?" Nanako joked.

Yosuke gave her a wide-eyed look. "H-how did you...!" he spluttered, and Nanako laughed, guilty as charged.

"Ahem," Nanako said. "So how long is this trip, anyway? Better not be a week or something."

"We leave Thursday and come back Saturday. So we still have Sunday off!" Chie sounded excited about that.

"We'll probably need it to recover. Even a small trip is draining, and that place is a few hours away right?" Nanako hmm'd to herself. "Three days. I don't like being gone three days like that. Not when Rise-san is on the Midnight Channel. Is everyone going?"

"The first and second years, I think," said Yosuke.

"I guess Saki-senpai can keep an eye on things." Nanako wasn't satisfied by that, but what choice did they have? "Say, Yukiko," she said, changing the subject slightly, "I bet you're excited, eh? Tatsumi Port Island is a big city!"

"Oh, yes," Yukiko breathed. "I want to see the tallest buildings they have! And the busiest avenues!"

"We should go clubbing," Nanako said. "A long time ago, I told Yosuke I'd take him—but I never got around to it. Sorry, man."

Yosuke looked uncertain now. "Clubbing, with you? I don't know, Nanako. Knowing you, it wouldn't be a normal club, would it?"

"Heh heh. That's right, I'm taking you to an all boys club."

Yosuke's expression flattened until she told him that she was kidding (even though she wasn't).

"Speaking of boys," Nanako went on. "Don't look now, but a cutie just walked into the room."

Both Chie and Yosuke frowned and glanced towards the door in the back of the room. The guy in glasses was returning from today's lunch date with Kanji. Nanako idly wondered what they'd eaten together today. Naoto hadn't texted her about it today, maybe because of her lack of response yesterday.

"Yeah, glasses are always good."

Nanako whipped her head around faster than anyone could blink, because it was Yosuke who'd just said that!

She decided not to call him out on it, opting instead to send him a sincere smile.

* * *

[9/4: Sunday]

Nanako, Chie, Souji, and Naoto were at the grassy flood plain preparing to start a long day of training. It was a scorcher of a day, so Nanako had brought a cooler full of ice, water bottles, and sports drinks. She sat on top of it now, kicking her legs. The action was kind of hampered by the long skirt.

"Shirogane-san, you wanna learn some aikido?" Nanako asked. "I mean, I'm not an expert or anything, but I've already taught Chie some."

"Yup," Chie said. "It's been pretty useful on some of the—"

The girl cut herself off, glancing at Souji. He didn't need to know that they fought Shadows!

"The reflex training is great!" Chie rallied on. "One time Ichijo-kun threw a ball at me and I hit it back like this!" She punched the air, shouting something like, "Hwataaah!"

"And then what happened?" Nanako asked. "Did it hit Kou-kun where it matters?"

"Well, my aim isn't quite that good," Chie said, rubbing her shoe's toe on the ground bashfully.

"Then I think we have something to work on today," Nanako declared with a grin.

Naoto wore a tight little smile. "I'd appreciate any training,"

"...Can... can I learn, too?" Souji spoke up to ask.

"Of course!"

After laying down foam mats on the grass, Nanako turned on some music from her phone and set them to practice footwork drills until they worked up a healthy sweat. It was dance music because it was kind of like they were dancing!

"I don't think your sensei would approve of Caramelldansen, Nanako," Chie said.

Nanako just stuck her tongue out at her.

"Big sis... this song, it's not in Japanese," Souji observed. "Umm... we danced to this in class once before."

"Show me!" Nanako demanded, and the little boy sheepishly put his hands up to his head and mimicked animal ears with them while he swayed his body to the song.

Nanako joined him and soon all four of them were dancing to the song and displaying varying degrees of embarrassment.

When the song was over, it was time to get serious. Nanako started Souji off with forward somersaults, and he went at it with so much enthusiasm that he rolled himself right off the foam mat and onto the grass. Now grass and dirt were sticking all over his clothes. It was a good thing she'd given him some play clothes to wear. It reminded her of Golden Week. He'd been so afraid to dirty his clothes back then!

"Can you go backwards now?" she asked him when he returned to the mat.

His grin faded into a look of concentration. He carefully fell onto his back... but he didn't have any momentum to turn it into a roll. When she pointed out that he'd have to sit back up and then roll quickly, he seemed intimidated by the very idea, so she demonstrated, first by explaining how he should use his shoulders and not let his head touch the ground, and then by performing the roll herself, not caring if anyone around saw up her skirt—but she ended up falling over halfway through the roll.

"I-I guess it's harder than I thought," she admitted with a grin.

He did a forward roll right into her lap and then gave her a hug to cheer her up. What a darling!

She used to be able to do this no problem, though—she was just out of practice. She carefully pushed the boy out of her lap and told him she'd try again. And this time it worked! She even landed it by ending up on her knees in a kneeling position instead of flat on her butt.

"Your turn, Sou-chan! Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall," she promised.

She hovered near him in case she'd have to help him up, but he followed her example and performed the roll almost flawlessly. Although he was smiling from her praise, he admitted that he didn't like going backwards as much.

"We'll keep practicing," she told him, "and we'll both get so good that it'll be easy-peasy!"

While they worked on that, Chie taught Naoto some of her techniques on the mat next to them. It turned out that Naoto had a surprisingly powerful kick.

"You could do some real damage with these!" Chie exclaimed, indicating the detective's boots.

"Th-that is the intent," Naoto stammered in a way that meant it was totally not. Anyone could tell the soles were thick for the added height.

"Try a roundhouse," Chie suggested. "Like I told you!"

Naoto moved into a karate guard stance as if he was a professional at it, raised his arms, then brought his leg up and to the side. He kicked this leg forward, pivoting on his grounded foot. After delivering the kick to the air, he pulled the leg back and returned to guard position.

Chie clapped her hands. "Something gets hit by that, they'll be on the ground in no time," she praised. "Do you wanna learn some other kicks, or should we work on guarding now? You know, I never thought I'd be a teacher!"

"Why not?" said Nanako. She was taking a break from doing rolls with Souji by drinking a sports drink to rehydrate herself. She made sure Souji was drinking enough, too. Souji was so sweaty by now that his gray hair had become a darker hue.

"Can you imagine someone calling me 'sensei'?" Chie scoffed at the very idea. "That's plain ridiculous."

"Chie-sensei," Souji said. The look on his face was dead serious.

Chie waved her hands and told him not to do that again. She was totally blushing. It was cute.

"You could found your own dojo out here," Nanako suggested. "Though I'm sure it's easier said than done. I bet you'd have to go to school for it."

"There are likely licenses required as well," Naoto added.

"M-maybe," Chie said. "This training is more fulfilling for myself. I don't know if I'd want to make a job out of it, you know?"

"Orrrr," Nanako went on, "you can always teach private lessons at Yukiko's inn. If she ends up taking it over, you could run a business on the side from there."

If she ends up taking it over, Nanako repeated in her mind, remembering how Yukiko hadn't been keen on it a few months ago. Man, she hadn't talked to the girl about that since... since Morooka died.

Chie seemed to be thinking seriously about that, perhaps imagining how that would work. Then she shook her head. "W-well, that's too far ahead! I'd rather we worry about the near future. I mean, we're only second years."

"Indeed you are," said Naoto, the detective who was a first year with a fulfilling career.

"And what do you plan to do with your life, anyway, Nanako?" Chie challenged.

Nanako blinked rapidly. The question had been turned on her, and... she didn't really know!

Before coming to Inaba, she'd wanted to be a detective just like her dad, but she probably wouldn't be able to survive in that world simply because she couldn't stand to follow orders. She was too much of a vigilante, and that would get her in trouble before she even got her license.

She definitely loved music, but she felt like she wasn't as good as her mom at the piano, though she knew her mom would be supportive of her if she chose to pursue that avenue.

She also loved kids, like her darling cousin. She held out her sports drink to Souji right now and let him take a drink of it. Thinking of him, she could also be a teacher, but that would be extra stressful since she'd most definitely try to adopt every kid she met.

"I think I'll worry about it when I'm back in Tokyo," Nanako answered. Though she herself wasn't satisfied with that answer, Chie seemed all right with it, and they went back to training after that.

* * *

[9/5: Monday]

Nanako was planning to stop by Saki's place—the third-year girl would not be coming on the field trip since that was reserved for the first and second years, so she wanted to spend a long time with her to prepare for her absence.

The plan was cut short when she saw Marie standing outside the big blue door again, looking as asocial as always. She seemed to be scowling down at her own shadow.

Right, Nanako had been planning to take Marie to a doctor about her little episodes.

Or maybe some aspirin would be enough. Heck, Nanako would need some herself at the end of their little date, knowing how frustrating it could be to work with the girl.

But maybe she just needed to give the girl a chance. It had been that way with Aunt Seta, after all!

She walked up to her. "All right, Marie," she said. "Let's go."

"We're going out? Take me to a zoo," Marie requested. "I wanna see an elephant."

"There aren't any elephants in a fifty mile radius."

"How far is that?"

Instead of answering, Nanako took the girl by her wrist and took her down the street. Marie protested a bit before falling in step with her. Nanako didn't say a word until they were at her planned destination: the Inaba overlook.

Shockingly, Marie didn't complain, but she did frown out over the town. "I don't see any elephants! Why'd you take me here?"

Nanako rolled her eyes. "I thought you could use some fresh air, and here's where it's the freshest. Y'know, since you're cooped up in that limo all day. I bet they won't let you roll the windows down."

"And let all that smoke in? Are you nuts?"

"It's fog," Nanako corrected, but then she frowned, because it could be smoke, actually. It wasn't like she'd been out in it. Whatever it was, she was pretty sure it was just there to mask the limousine's true location.

"The fog in our hearts," Marie muttered.

When she didn't continue, Nanako prompted, "And?"

"And what?"

"Sounded like you were writing a poem."

Marie stared at her. "I wasn't."

Nanako sighed. "Well, what do you think of the view?" she asked. "This is it. All of Inaba. You can see my aunt's house from here."

"What are those big balloon things?"

"Junes."

"Joo... ness?"

It didn't look far from their position, but Nanako knew it was, so she didn't offer to take the girl there. Maybe next time. They'd walked a lot already just to get to the overlook, and besides, Nanako was sore from all those rolls she did yesterday.

"Is Joo-ness as boring as this place?" Marie was scowling again.

"Yes," Nanako said quite frankly. "There isn't much to do in this town, but people seem to think Junes is a quality attraction. It's just a store. I guess a store with two floors is exciting, but..." Suddenly she remembered the cutie pie speedos and the dinosaur cookie cutters that she bought there. "Actually, maybe it's not so boring!"

Marie listened with apparent interest while Nanako recounted her amazing purchases.

"What is a 'cue tee pie?'" Marie asked.

That sort of question was more like it! Nanako whipped out her phone and began to show Marie pictures of darling little Souji. "That is a bona fide cutie pie right there," she said proudly.

Marie began to giggle. "Who is that? I wanna meet him. He looks so tiny."

"And cute, too!" Nanako added emphatically. "He's Souji-kun, my little cousin. He's probably still at cram school right now, but sure, maybe some day I'll take you to him."

And Marie could maybe teach Souji poetry! He would probably like that. What would he write about? Dinosaurs as tall as Junes?

Nanako was already trying to come up with something that rhymed with 'pterodactyl' when Marie asked, "Why is it all cracked?"

"Huh?" It took Nanako a moment to realize she meant the phone's screen. "Oh. Honestly, I threw it over the cliff here once! I guess it broke when it landed. It's a good thing there's grass down there. It could've broke more than the screen."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was upset at the time," Nanako murmured, not wanting to think about her mindset back then. "It's difficult to explain, but I didn't think of the consequences when I threw it away. I just didn't want it anywhere near me at the time."

There was a frown on Marie's face as she considered that.

"Anyway, Marie..." Nanako said. "Won't you tell me what it's like to live in the Velvet Room? What do you guys eat? Do you even get hungry? I'm pretty sure time doesn't pass in there. I wonder if I stayed in there for ten years, would I get any older? And who the hell is driving it, anyway?"

"I don't know anything about that," Marie said. "The Nose doesn't talk."

"What, not even a little? You mean he's never even called you 'special'?"

"I've tried talking, but he never answers."

Nanako recalled the 'Silence Boost' aspect of Margaret's Persona request. She could understand Igor and Margaret getting annoyed by all the questions, but she also understood Marie's desire to have answers.

"How did they find you?" Nanako wondered. "Were you hitchhiking?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about where I came from," Marie muttered. "Oh... but I do have this."

She held out something. Nanako took it from her.

"It's just a stupid comb," Marie explained, "but it feels important."

Nanako turned it over in her hands. It was a simple one made of bamboo, which meant it wasn't modern. With the advent of plastic, something like this would only be sold in an antique store. "It's not stupid," Nanako said. "Just old. Old doesn't necessarily mean stupid."

"I think it's connected to my past," Marie said. "But whenever I try to recall anything about it, my head feels like it's going to explode."

"Maybe your past was traumatic and there's a reason it's being hidden from you," Nanako suggested. "Igor said he didn't know anything about it, but he might be lying. What is your earliest memory? One you can safely recall? Just the color blue from the Velvet Room?"

"Not the Velvet Room, but that smoke outside. The fog...?" Marie hissed and put a hand to her head as it apparently began to throb in pain.

Nanako waited for the girl to recover, and then handed her back the comb. "You know, Marie... if your past is so painful, there's no real need to cling to it. Think about the future instead."

"The future...? I don't know if I..."

"Yeah. I'll teach you what it's like to live in this world. If it comes to a point where the Velvet Room won't welcome you, you might even be able to live with me. And if my aunt won't take you, I'm sure my friends and I will come up with something else."

"You'd do that?"

"You can work on becoming a famous poet. We'll build a big book of your best poems and sell them at the bookstore! You're a local girl, or we'll claim that you are, and that'll draw in customers. At some point you'll have your own fan club on the Internet."

Marie seemed speechless at the very idea. Her eyes began to gleam, but then the fire died suddenly. "Wouldn't I need to be able to draw on my past to write?"

"Do you draw on it now to write?"

She stared down at her comb. "No, actually. I... maybe?"

Marie began to clutch at her head again. Her body swayed as she cried out in pain and frustration. This episode went on for some time, Nanako just standing there not knowing what to do about it.

Then Marie hurled the comb over the cliff's edge.

Marie staggered forward and latched onto the overlook's railing, gasping for her breath. Slowly, she reached a hand to her forehead. Then she turned to Nanako and smiled. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Nanako felt something in her own head: that voice declaring that a social link had been established. _Finally,_ she thought, and then the card appeared in her mind.

The card's image was a skull.

* * *

[9/7: Wednesday]

Although Nanako wanted to hang out with Saki after school, she decided she ought to head home and pack for the school trip. She found Naoto and they walked home together.

"Do you really think it's okay if we both go on the trip?" Nanako asked while they passed the school gates. She had reservations about leaving town when Rise's silhouette was still showing up on the Midnight Channel. It had been on again just last night.

"Tatsumi Port Island is only some hours away," Naoto replied, "and although I understand your concern, Rise-san is nowhere near Inaba. She and I have been in contact every day."

"Oh?" Nanako said, curiosity piqued. "Do you call her, or does she call you?"

"She texts me daily." Naoto held up a phone. It was a much newer model compared to Nanako's. "She's very curious about me. She's asked me several questions. It's quite strange."

Nanako held in a snort. "Yeah? What sort of questions?" she asked as timidly as she could manage. "About your family and your job?"

"And my hobbies as well," Naoto finished. "I can't imagine why it would interest her."

 _She's got a crush on you,_ Nanako sang in her mind. And who could blame her? Nanako still held a flame for the detective, too—but she wouldn't act on it because she knew Naoto was not interested.

"But you keep answering," Nanako pointed out.

"We do need to keep in contact. This line of communication might not be entirely professional as it has deviated from the main topic, but it gets the job done, as they say."

Poor Rise. She never had a chance.

"So you're coming with us on the field trip," Nanako said. "I think we're staying at a hotel. Umm, are you going to be okay with that?" She didn't know how to ask it tactfully, but there could be some problems with Naoto staying with the other boys.

"Don't worry. I have made my own arrangements. The hotel your homeroom teacher has chosen is... well, quite seedy, to say the least." Naoto smiled to himself. "You're going to enjoy it."

"What kind of girl do you think I am?" Nanako protested.

Naoto's smile turned into a full-on grin.

"You wound me!" Nanako complained. "But damn, now I'm looking forward to the trip. I wish Saki-senpai could come with..."

"Speaking of sordid romance," Naoto said, and with those words alone he had Nanako's full attention. "I wonder if somehow Kanji-kun and his boyfriend will find themselves assigned the same room."

"Oh my god, Shirogane-san!" Nanako breathed. "They're two different years, but... we have to make it happen."

"I'm not certain they would appreciate meddling. Kanji-kun has asked me to stop following him during lunch." Naoto looked embarrassed about that. "My tailing skills need some work, I suppose."

"So that's why you haven't texted me updates in a while," Nanako mused. "Oh, but those boys are totally gonna appreciate this, you mark my words!"

"Well, I won't bet against that. I'm sure you'll find a way to give Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai some alone time as well."

So Naoto was aware of that relationship. "Heh heh," said Nanako. "Maybe this trip is just what the doctor ordered!"

"You are forgetting Yosuke-senpai."

"Psh, he can play with himself," Nanako said dismissively.

By then they'd reached the Seta Residence. Nanako unlocked the door, although Naoto also had a key. The two went their separate ways in the living room to pack for the trip.

* * *

It was an Adachi Wednesday, or would have been had the detective not called and informed the family that he couldn't make it. Aunt Seta was home early regardless, and it ended up a quiet family evening spent playing games with Souji until his bed time. Naoto, too, decided to retire for the evening at that point, leaving Aunt Seta and Nanako alone in the living room.

Aunt Seta went to her room for a moment and then returned with a shoebox. She placed it on the kitchen table and motioned for Nanako to join her there.

"Now Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta began. "I know you often use your phone's camera function... but on your school trip, I was wondering—hoping, really—that you'd be interested in bringing a better camera along."

Aunt Seta opened the box. Inside was a small cloth bag, which she opened to reveal a small but professional-looking camera. She handed this to Nanako now, who hesitated before accepting it.

"I used to be a hobbyist photographer," Aunt Seta explained. "This was my favorite camera. Digital cameras have come a long way in recent years, but there's something about film, so I haven't yet made the switch. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types—oh, but I won't bore you with the details."

Though she said that, the woman looked eager to speak about her hobby. Nanako turned the camera over in her hands and decided the best way to please her aunt would be to ask how to use it.

Aunt Seta's satisfied little smile made the time spent learning how to use the device worth it. It wasn't exactly a point-and-click type of camera, and it had a surprising amount of functions for something that wasn't electronic.

"I used to always carry a camera with me, and extra rolls of film in my purse," Aunt Seta confided.

"Wait!" Nanako said as the thought occurred to her. "Were you the photographer who took those pictures of my dad you showed me a while back?"

The woman began to impersonate a Cheshire cat. "Hmhmhm, well, of course, it was a different camera back then."

"You said you were going to show me more pictures. Did you... did you ever have a chance to find them?" Nanako asked.

Aunt Seta pulled forward another box from atop the kitchen counter. "This album in particular I think you'd enjoy."

Nanako could hardly contain her excitement when she took the photo album from her. What was it going to be? More pictures of dad and his half-naked friends? She bit her lip to try and control her blush.

She opened the album and squealed.

It was her parents' wedding album!

By the billowing white dress Chisato was wearing in the first picture, it had been a Western-style wedding. The veil on her head had flowers tied to it; even back then she'd loved to accessorize. And Dojima was looking so handsome in that tuxedo! It was no wonder the bride and groom seemed to be making eyes at each other in every picture. Yeah, Nanako recognized that look, heh heh.

There were other pictures, too. Nanako recognized a man as Takeshi, her dad's friend, and some of her mom's weird friends, including that guy with an earring. And, of course, her grandparents.

Nanako looked up from the album. "Did you take all these pictures?"

"Yes, actually," Aunt Seta answered with a nostalgic smile. "Chisato asked me to be the photographer. It's more economical than hiring a professional, and I was willing to do it. And the wedding was rather sudden. I don't think they could have found a professional on such short notice."

Nanako felt her cheeks warm. Her mom liked to brag about how quickly she'd captured Dojima's heart. The two had only known each other a very short time before tying the knot. It might have seemed like a recipe for disaster, but... they were definitely a happy couple even to this day. Nanako could testify that!

She went through the album again, and Aunt Seta volunteered some details—mostly her opinions on several of the guests (both compliments and complaints), what she thought they were doing now, whether they were married and had kids of their own.

What Nanako had to know, though, was what the woman wasn't saying. "Umm, Aunt Seta," she prompted. "...Did you get along with my mom?"

"Ah." Aunt Seta stalled for a moment with a sigh. "I will admit, Nanako-chan, that at first I didn't trust her. Ryotaro is my little brother, you understand. He'd never shown interest in marrying before. But when I finally met her... Well, it's difficult to explain, but I knew that she was sincere."

Nanako gently drew her fingers over one of the pictures of the happy couple. Her eyes became wet, because she missed her parents so much. She could only imagine that they were missing each other, too, what with Mom being on her tour...

"Do you have other pictures?" Nanako asked, trying to get her mind off it. "Like... Souji-kun's baby pictures?"

"Oh, yes," Aunt Seta breathed. "But they are buried in my closet. Perhaps another day? I'll dig them out while you're on your little trip."

Now Nanako was looking forward to the end of the trip more than ever!

She closed the photo album and handed it back to her aunt, whose gaze lingered on it for a moment. Nanako almost thought she was going to open it again, but then Aunt Seta sighed and turned away to return it to the box on the kitchen counter.

When she returned to her seat, she suddenly seemed weary. It prompted Nanako to ask something that had been at the back of her mind. "Aunt Seta, umm... you said you 'used to' be a photographer. Why... why did you stop?"

This time the woman's smile was humorless. "I just don't have the time or energy anymore. So please," – she pushed the camera's box over to Nanako – "take as many pictures as you want with your friends."

* * *

[9/8: Thursday]

_Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection._

It was an interesting little art piece in Gekkoukan High School's entrance hall: a blue pyramid and a red pyramid side by side. One pyramid held a sword within it, the other a staff.

Nanako aimed her aunt's camera at the piece and took a picture.

After replacing the camera in its bag, she tilted her head and considered the quote on the placard. Wasn't that the motto for some big corporation? Yeah, the Kirijo Group. The one that ran this private school, actually. The meaning behind that motto—

"Come on, Nanako," Chie said, tugging on her arm. "We're supposed to go upstairs."

"Yeah, yeah," Nanako muttered, not looking forward to the lecture ahead of them. They were visiting a whole new school just to have lessons. What kind of field trip was this?

Though maybe she shouldn't have been so pessimistic, because when they were settled in the classroom, the creepy teacher, a scruffy and lazy-looking guy with glasses, began to tell them a mythological story.

Apparently two gods gave birth to Japan, but one day the woman god died giving birth to the fire god, so her husband went to underworld to get her back. Everything was going well until Izanagi, the man god, decided to take a peek at his lovely wife. The teacher said something about setting his comb alight? Why did he even have a comb? Nanako guessed that was that Japanese equivalent of using a mirror to look behind you, like her mother used to say. Kinda funny how into mythology her mother was, now that she thought about it. Nanako supposed she should be too, what with how every Persona was a mythological figure of some sort.

Anyway, when Nanako turned her attention back to the lesson, the creepy teacher was apologizing for going into a tangent about Jewish golems and then explained that Izanagi put a big rock in front of the entrance to hell to stop the rotting Izanami from coming after him, and to punish him for this, Izanami promised to kill a thousand humans every day. Izanami was fucking metal! Apparently, though, Izanagi said he was somehow going to give life to one thousand five hundred humans everyday to make up for her badass killing. Wait, but wasn't he the man god? Nanako thought the woman god was the one supposed to be giving life to things.

When the lecture was concluded, Nanako had only one thing to say:

"What a jerk!" She slammed her fist against the pristine desk. The teacher, uh... seemed to look at her? He turned his head at least, but his glasses were like a hole to another universe, she couldn't see his eyes at all.

"Hm?" the teacher mumbled, smiling ever so slightly.

"The guy goes into the underworld to get back his wife but then leaves her there because she's ugly? Ugh. Men, amirite?"

There were some nods of approval from the other students, mostly the girls. Oh, but the class rep was nodding too! Nanako sent him a wink, which he pretended not to notice. How cute~!

"Eeeheeheeheehee..." the teacher laughed, sending her chills to the very bone. "Perhaps the story was not meant to be taken so literally," he said evenly. "It could simply mean that that the woman he found in the underworld was no longer the woman he fell in love with. This meaning is somewhat common to myths of old."

"Yeah, right," Nanako scoffed. "Izanagi talked to Izanami and there wasn't anything wrong, right? He only realized something was wrong when he set his comb on fire. So there, that WAS the same woman he fell in love with!"

"You bring up a good point. Humans... and gods, too, it would seem... are often deceived by appearances, not only physical but also spiritual. This deceit is borne from their own worship of appearance, however. Such is the endless cycle."

Something ringed within Nanako's head. She stumbled to the side for a moment, feeling quite dizzy, but she shook it off and resumed the discourse with the teacher. "I agree. People put too much stock into that stuff! They'd rather live comfortably than check underneath for whether something is wrong or not. Everyone would just rather not know."

There was a long moment of silence, during which the teacher, whose name she remembered just then was Edogawa, merely stared at her with a contemplative expression. It was the most intense she'd seen him the entire lecture, not hunched back but proud and tall, though his glasses were as impermeable as ever.

"That being said," he said eventually, "curiosity led to Izanagi igniting his comb. The truth was what he found then. Do take that into consideration."

Nanako swallowed hard, and then it hit her, the ringing in her mind, so strongly that she fell back on the chair and the world seemed to spin around her. _What is this?_ she thought. _Is this what Marie feels when she tries to remember? Maybe I caught something from her._

Soon, though, everything was fine again. When she raised her head, Edogawa was staring intently at her.

"In the olden days," he said, "people took this story seriously. Things such as lighting only one fire at night and throwing combs were taboo."

Throwing combs...? Uh, whoops.

"...But to this day people hold festivals near Hana no Iwaya, the grave where Izanami is said to have descended to the underworld."

There was another pause. "Finally, the etymology," he then said. "The names Izanagi and Izanami come from _izanau,_ which means to invite. I had hoped that perhaps you would accept this story today as an invitation to acquire knowledge, and am delighted to see that was indeed the case."

Edogawa stared at her again, this time with his regular laid back expression, which was somehow even more unnerving, but... Nanako did feel that there was something to be taken from this lesson, and so, on her way out, she silently bowed her head to him in respect.

* * *

After lunch, the students from Yasogami were given a tour of Gekkoukan's campus. The classes had been split into several groups based on their homeroom teacher to make it more manageable for the school to accommodate them.

Classroom 2-2's tour guide was a cute middle-school boy whose name Nanako did not catch. His brown hair was carefully styled up in the front. It made her want to mess it up.

"And here is the persimmon tree," the boy said, walking up to the tree and lightly patting its trunk. "It was planted here in memory of a teacher who passed away. It hasn't produced any fruit yet, but we have high hopes for it next spring."

Nanako wondered how many couples had kissed under it. It was in a secluded little alcove in the back of the school. Not for the last time, she wished Saki was here. She really wanted a romantic interlude all of a sudden...

She made Yukiko and Chie stand in front of the tree and took a picture of them. She made them hold hands, and that sort of appeased her. Sort of.

The tour guide brought them to a baseball field where a game was going on. The kids on the field seemed to be elementary school students. They were coached by a man with a sky blue baseball cap.

"So, umm," the boy said, waving at the field, "Gekkoukan has several different club options for physical education. We have soccer and baseball, an archery range, tennis and volleyball... Indoors we have a swimming pool, boxing arena, and fencing."

"H-how do I transfer?" Chie exclaimed.

Yukiko laughed. "Chie! Your eyes!"

"Wh-what?"

"They're glowing!"

Although Chie was joking, everyone had to admit that Gekkoukan's campus was stylish and new when compared to the ancient halls of Yasogami. Its paint wasn't peeling off the walls, the doors didn't creak like they were dying when opened, their Home Ec club room had more than one sewing machine... The list went on and on.

"Did you go to a school like this back in the city?" Nanako asked Yosuke conversationally while they followed the tour guide to their next destination. "I think my high school in Tokyo is about on par with this when it comes to size."

"Kind of," Yosuke answered. "I don't think this school is normal. We definitely didn't have our own baseball field. We had to share with a rival school. I remember my friends in the baseball club complaining about how the other school never cleaned up the field if they knew we were going to use it after them."

"You were in the baseball club?" Maybe that's why Yosuke hadn't joined a sports club. Yasogami didn't have a baseball field, let alone a baseball club.

"No, I just had friends in it. I went to their games sometimes. I actually had team spirit back then, if you can believe it. Ichijo is nice and all, but I really don't want to play basketball, so I always claim that I have to work when he's looking for extras."

"Was Katsuragi-kun," – she'd barely finished the question and he was already frowning at her just from mentioning the name – "in the baseball club?"

"What is your obsession with him, geez," Yosuke complained. "He wasn't. I don't know if he's in any clubs."

"You're a bad friend, Yosuke," she told him. The thought made her sigh, though, because she was a worse friend. "Have you called him in a while?"

"Yes, actually," he replied, and then he looked embarrassed, like he hadn't meant to say that at all.

Instead of pressing him about it, Nanako told him that she was glad. "I haven't been keeping in touch with my old friends as much as I should," she admitted. "I emailed them all recently, but I know they're still worried about me."

"Being your friends, who could blame them?" Although Yosuke was just teasing, he wasn't exactly wrong, and they both knew it.

"My friends back home are kinda crazier than me," she informed him, somewhat defensively. "Maybe you should meet them!"

"Pass," he said, crossing his arms.

Maybe it was for the best, although Yosuke could stand to have his worldview expanded. 

The school tour ended with them back at the school's main entrance, where Ms. Kashiwagi was waiting for them. Instead of waiting for the other classes still on their tours, Ms. Kashiwagi announced that she would now lead Nanako's class to the hotel they'd be staying at. Everyone filed in line behind her and followed her out of the school.

* * *

Nanako couldn't stop giggling.

It had started when Ms. Kashiwagi turned them down a street called Shirakawa Boulevard.

At first glance, it was a normal city street. Since it was still early evening, things were calm—it'd pick up in just a few hours, when more people were off work. Right now, many of the restaurants and street vendors were just starting to set up shop. The bicycle racks were mostly empty at the moment, but one could imagine how full they'd be later as visitors came in from other parts of town.

Yeah, it was a normal city street until you noticed the conspicuous red lanterns hanging over certain shops. And that was definitely an okama bar over there, Nanako could tell just by looking at the attendant standing outside the door.

Ms. Kashiwagi turned down an alleyway that was filled with trash bags, the walls covered in dirty posters. She stopped in front of a brick wall that had an arched doorway within it: the hotel's discreet entrance. The sign declared that it was the Seaside Clamshell Inn.

It was a freaking love hotel! And for some reason the teacher was pretending that it wasn't, though the woman had a playful look on her face when she reported how cheaply she'd obtained the rooms. Yeah, she totally knew what it was.

For once, Nanako liked Ms. Kashiwagi.

"When did you turn into Yukiko-san?" Yosuke complained.

"We're going... t-to have... so much fun!" Nanako gasped between giggles.

"Oh my god," Yosuke moaned in complaint. "Now I don't want to stay here even more."

"Can't say I disagree," Chie remarked.

"Why do you two have to be so conservative?" Nanako complained. "Places like these serve an important function. Who wants to get freaky when your neighbors can hear you next door?"

"You," Chie and Yosuke said at the same time.

"I have some decency!" she protested.

Ms. Kashiwagi led everyone into the lobby, which was furnished with a couple of vending machines. Disappointingly, they only seemed to have sodas in them. What kind of love hotel was this? In fact, wasn't the lobby supposed to have some sort of way for them to choose which room they wanted? Unless this one didn't have themed rooms. Not all love hotels did, after all.

The teacher left them there to seek an attendant. While they waited for her to return, Yukiko had her notebook in hand and seemed to be writing. Was she... taking notes about this place? The Amagi Inn was a little too far from town to change its business, but maybe it could expand...

They'd had an entrepreneur among them the whole time. Fancy that!

Then Ms. Kashiwagi returned with a clipboard apparently containing the room assignments. She handed this to the male class rep along with a bundle of keys, made some creepy comment about how her room would be unlocked, told them to 'go wild,' and then headed off to the third floor where she and the other teachers were staying. As it turned out, the second year students were assigned rooms on the establishment's second floor while the first years were on the first.

Nanako sidled up to the male class rep and peeked at the room assignments. They were kind of blank. The students would be left to their own devices, though there were some instructions across the top saying that they had to be segregated by their sexes.

Apparently in charge now, the class rep cleared his throat and addressed the crowd of his fellow students. "All right," he proceeded in a businesslike fashion. "I'm in room 202 with Takkun and Hiyoshi-kun—"

Nanako nudged him. "You can assign yourself any room you want," she whispered. "Why not with Kanji-kun?"

The boy lifted his glasses to peer at her, his face turning red despite his assertiveness. "He's with the first-years," he whispered back, glancing at the other students and obviously hoping they weren't listening in.

"So? Get a room to yourself and invite him up."

"Wh-what are you..." He was fully blushing now, and maybe sweating too.

"You'll thank me later," she said, slapping him on the butt. She then picked up a key from the bundle. "Now... Gimme this room, 204, with Chie and Yukiko. Please," she added as an afterthought.

She winked at him while he was formulating a response, and sauntered away before he could say anything to find her two girlfriends and take them to their room.

Unfortunately, the room turned out not to have any sort of theme. It seemed like this place used to be a love hotel, but was being remodeled into something that wasn't half as exciting and didn't have any right to be in a red light district.

The remodeling wasn't anywhere near done, however. The walls were garishly pink, the bed was shaped like a heart, and there was a big mirror above it. There was a nice big TV, which she touched for the hell of it. Her hand didn't go through. This place was out of range.

She jumped onto the bed, and boy was it bouncy. She hadn't expected it to be a waterbed! She checked out the headboard. Though the tissue box was intact, the condom dispenser was empty. It was probably the first thing the hotel had removed to clean up its reputation. Drat.

"Th-this kind of reminds me of your dungeon, Yukiko," Chie said, stepping tentatively into the room. "The colors, at least."

It was uncertain whether Yukiko heard her or not. She was furiously scribbling down things into her notebook. The light was so muted in the room it was a wonder she could see what she was writing.

"Nothing here has a tiger print," Nanako pointed out.

Neither girl answered, and when Nanako looked up, she found that Chie was totally missing. She'd expected the fairly conservative girl to still be standing in the doorway looking uncomfortable, but soon she heard the girl's muffled voice from the bathroom. "Nanako, you have to see this!"

Interested, Nanako jumped from the waterbed and nearly unbalanced herself because of the bounciness.

The bathroom was almost as big as the room itself, but the primary feature—that Chie was staring at—was a heart-shaped jacuzzi so large that it gave Kanji's bathhouse a run for its money.

"We can all have a bath at the same time." Chie sounded awed.

"Let's," Nanako declared, a mischievous smile growing on her face.

* * *

[9/9: Friday]

The next day, the students were encouraged to go on scheduled bus tours of the city. However, these tours weren't mandatory, so Nanako convinced the DEATH Squad that they should hang out together and do their own thing instead. They met in the hotel's lobby, where Naoto informed them that Kanji couldn't make it; he was helping 'a certain individual with glasses' organize the students into tour groups.

Nanako grinned. She didn't have to ask to know that the male class rep had taken her advice.

"What are we going to do?" Yosuke asked. "I only skipped out on the tour because art museums aren't all that interesting to me."

"If it was a music museum, now..." Nanako joked.

"I heard there's an awesome beef bowl place by Iwatodai station," Chie said. "We should go there for lunch."

And with that, their plans were made. Since it was a little early for lunch, they hung around Iwatodai station for a while to pass the time. It consisted of a three-story strip mall with a bunch of different stores.

The first store they saw was Bookworms, a used bookstore. Unfortunately, most of their books seemed to be trashy romance novels, the true plight of any used bookstore, though there was some manga in a box. Nanako opened up a volume to find that some kid had used it as a coloring book. It made her ask for actual coloring books, and the old lady running the store eagerly helped her pick out some fun ones for Souji.

Nanako wasn't the only one making a purchase here—Yukiko had found a book with advice on running a business. It wasn't geared towards innkeeping or anything, but some of its information could still be useful, especially the chapter on keeping expenses low. Maybe she could use it as further leverage to convince her parents to remove the mandatory towels from the hot springs.

Right next door to the bookstore was a fast food restaurant.

"It's a Wuck!" Nanako cried at the sight of the teal bird mascot. "I haven't been to one since Tokyo."

"I keep hoping they'll open one in Okina," Yosuke said. "I haven't had any in forever either."

"Oh, they have a Mystery Burger." Yukiko was pointing to the menu on the window. "I'd like to have that."

"B-but beef bowl..." Chie whined. "Guys!"

"Hey, Aiya delivers anywhere, right?"

"Nanako," Chie said, her hands on her hips. "We're not even remotely in the same city."

Nanako grinned at her and pulled out her phone. She ordered a mega beef bowl for Chie and some pot stickers for herself because if she was going this far, she might as well. When she gave the location for delivery, the man taking the order didn't refuse to deliver there. In fact, he hung up right after telling her how much it would cost.

Nanako was a little disconcerted by that—they weren't even charging her extra for the distance—but she shrugged and then led her friends into the burger joint.

They each ordered something from the menu, even Chie though she was a bit reluctant due the name of the restaurant, and took a seat at a big table.

"S-so," Chie began conversationally after their orders arrived. "What's so mysterious about the Mystery Burger, anyway?"

Yukiko contemplated the burger in front of her. "I'm... not sure. Maybe it was made by spirits?"

"Maybe the meat doesn't come from a cow," Nanako suggested.

"Don't say any more, you heretic!" Chie was shaking her finger. Actually, her whole body was kind of shaking, like she was having beef bowl withdrawals.

Fortunately Chie didn't have to suffer for long, because Aika arrived at their table with the delivery from Aiya.

Wait, what!? When her brain caught up, Nanako jumped in her seat from surprise and ended up clutching onto Naoto for support. "Aika-chan?" she squeaked when her voice came back.

The delivery girl nodded. "I'd ask you to leave the bowls," she said, "but since we didn't charge you extra, maybe you could take them back to the beef bowl place a few levels up?"

"Did you come here all the way from Inaba?" Nanako asked.

Aika's answer was a slightly raised eyebrow. "Enjoy your meal."

A stunned silence followed as they watched her leave the burger joint.

Yukiko broke it. "Maybe Aika-chan has teleportation powers."

"Or a really fast scooter," Yosuke followed.

Chie said something, but no one could understand what because she was already stuffing noodles from the beef bowl into her mouth. Apparently the food was as good as ever, wherever it had come from.

"B-but... but even if you took the Shinkansen, you wouldn't get here that fast." Nanako was staring at her pot stickers as if they were alien artifacts.

"Aika-san is a first-year," Naoto said. "She came on the trip with us. She is, in fact, in my class."

Everyone looked at him, even Chie.

"Wow," said Yukiko. "I had no idea the Detective Prince was such a killjoy."

Naoto's face began to turn red. Yukiko giggled, oh, no, it was going to be a huge giggle fit, anyone could tell already. Nanako covered her face with her hands.

But a soft sound followed. Naoto was chuckling too. 

Really, who could stay mad at a hyena?

After their meal, they continued to explore the strip mall. Of course they had to get dessert at the sweets shop. There was also the beef bowl shop, where they dropped off Aika's bowls.

They found a manga store called Book On. Considering Inaba's horrible lack of gay comics, Nanako just had to pay it a visit.

When they went inside, they were greeted by a life-size cutout of Red Condor from Featherman advertising the newest volume. Naoto pretended not to read every sentence on the ad. Nanako suggested that he buy the newest volume, but he admitted he was behind so he'd have to buy a few more volumes with it.

"You, on the other hand," Naoto advanced smoothly, "should be picking this up." He handed her a volume of Loveline from a nearby display. Nanako took it, her mouth set in a line. She traced her fingers over the embossing on the cover.

She should get it. Souji would want to know what happens next in the series.

"If you don't," Naoto said, "I will."

Nanako allowed a grin to come to her face. "Big bro. Go ahead. I think he'd like it if it came from you."

"In that case..." Naoto took out his wallet and headed to the checkout counter.

While he was paying, Nanako wandered around the store to find her other friends.

Yukiko was holding up a volume of a particular horror manga series. "Look, Chie! He's got eyes on his fingertips!"

Chie flinched away. "D-don't make me look at that!"

"In this one his head's all twisted!"

"Stooooop!"

Nanako shook her head and decided to search for the adults only section. A store like this had to have one!

It was, of course, prominently marked. She walked past the gross hentai and straight into fujoshi land.

Wait. The gross hentai section. Shouldn't Yosuke be there?

She recalled his reluctance to stay at the former love hotel. Maybe she was misjudging him. 

...Or maybe he just didn't want to get caught looking at hentai by any of his friends. Curious now, she followed her ears for the sound of his tinny headphones and found him browsing in the shounen manga aisle. He was rapidly turning the pages of the volume in his hands. She couldn't tell what the manga was, but considering his Persona, it probably had something to do with ninjas.

"Find anything good?" she asked.

He flipped to the next page without looking up from the manga. He hadn't heard her at all. He was totally absorbed.

She scurried back to fujoshi land, and after considering it for a long while, she picked out a boy's love manga, one that didn't have any sex in it, just romance.

She was going to give it to Yosuke later. Who knew? She'd helped Kanji learn more about himself like this!

* * *

When their shopping was over, it was still mid-afternoon. The kids on the tour were probably still in the middle of an art museum. What else was there to see in Tatsumi Port Island? The Moonlight Bridge was supposed to be beautiful at night, but that was still hours away.

"Rise-san suggests we go to the Paulownia Mall," Naoto said. "It has an arcade and a karaoke club."

"Wait, 'Rise-san'?" Yosuke was frowning. "You mean Risette?"

"I mean Rise Kujikawa," Naoto corrected. "She, in fact, dislikes being called 'Risette' casually. We are what some might call 'pen pals.' I told her about our trip and it seems she has been to Tatsumi Port Island before on a music tour."

"Before you get excited, Yosuke," Nanako added, "it's just for the case. Anyway, Shirogane-san, did you say karaoke? We should do it!"

"I-I can't sing at all," Chie protested.

"We can do a duet," Yukiko said. "I'm sure it'd be fun."

"I'm down with it," Yosuke said. "The arcade sounds fun, too. I wonder if I can beat any of the top scores. I'm pretty good at some of those fighting games!"

The Paulownia Mall was on the other side of town, so they had to take the inner city train to get there. As the train passed over the bay separating the mainland from the man-made port island, there was a breathtaking view of the ocean. They could've gone to the beach instead, but no one had packed anything for that, and considering the time of year, it was probably very crowded.

Perhaps the greatest thing about the mall was that it was indoors so they could beat the heat. Other people had the same idea, too, and as the afternoon turned to evening and the schools let out, it became a little too crowded at the karaoke club, so they left it after their sixth song. 

"I... I kinda need to use the restroom," Yosuke said when they walked down the stairs from the karaoke club. "Did anyone see one? It was too dark in there."

They glanced around the mall but there weren't any signs indicating a restroom. There was, however, a small alcove behind the stairs. Nanako followed Chie into it.

"Umm," Nanako said instinctively. 

There was a large and intricately designed door at the end of the alcove. It was transparent and glowing with blue light.

"A dead end, huh?" Yosuke remarked. "Only a couple of potted plants."

Nanako hadn't even noticed the two potted plants situated on either side of the door. The Velvet Room key felt heavy in her pocket all of a sudden, like it was itching for her to use it.

"You can go in one of the plants," Chie suggested. "We'll turn our backs so no one will know. You did it in TV World that one time."

"N-not when there's a police station right next to us!" Yosuke protested.

"That won't be necessary," Naoto said, ever the voice of reason. "We can stop at the coffee shop here. I'm sure they have a restroom inside, and we can all use some refreshment after all that singing."

They headed into the Chagall Cafe and shuffled as a group up to the counter. As they peered at the chalkboard behind the counter to decide on what to order, something in particular stood out.

"Pheromone Coffee?" Nanako said. "...I want it."

"I was going to suggest you order something for me while I use the restroom," Yosuke said, "but I just changed my mind."

"Yosuke Hanamura, Fun Police," she teased, and he crossed his arms and gave her a flat look before heading off towards the store's restrooms. 

"They don't have a Mystery Coffee," Yukiko remarked with a frown. "That's on the menu at the branch in Okina."

"They do not!" Chie said. "It's the 'Owner's Original Blend.' Just because you don't know what's in it doesn't mean it's mysterious! And haven't you had enough mystery-named foods for one day?"

They were at the table awaiting their orders when Nanako's phone began to ring. She took the call outside, and it turned out to be Kanji. He was done helping out on the tour and wanted to know what they were doing. She told him which train stop the mall was on and that they would be at the cafe for a while longer if he wanted to meet up with them.

"Yeah, I'll be there!" Kanji said.

"What about your boyfriend?" Nanako asked.

"He's sleeping in the hotel room."

 _Yeah, I bet he's tired, heh heh,_ Nanako thought. "We're going to be staying up late," she warned.

He promised he was up for it and then hung up. She put away her phone and returned to the others, informing them that Kanji would be meeting them soon.

"So the whole team will be here, huh?" Yosuke remarked.

Nanako smiled somewhat sadly at him. Yeah, the whole team... It was nice to have it back together.

The drink orders arrived. Only Nanako had ordered the Pheromone Coffee. Yosuke had a chai tea, Naoto had an ordinary black coffee with a lemon slice on the cup's edge, Yukiko had an ice cream sundae, and Chie had an iced coffee.

The Pheromone Coffee was good. Really good. "H-how's everyone's drinks?" Nanako asked neutrally, trying to distract herself. Her face was heating up. Her whole body felt warm. It wasn't unpleasant, but...

"Just the right amount of spice," Yosuke reported with a too-dreamy smile.

"The lemon is so subtle as to be almost entirely absent," said Naoto. "It's perfect." Was his face rosy, too? It was difficult to tell.

Yukiko just mmm'd, and there was some stray vanilla ice cream on her upper lip. Nanako stared at it, licking her own. When Chie took a napkin and wiped Yukiko's face with it, Nanako found herself panting.

"How's your drink, Nanako?" Yosuke asked.

With Yosuke's baby brown eyes on her, Nanako was reminded of that time in the bathhouse, and...

"Uh, are you okay, Nanako?"

She began to chuckle to herself. "This coffee..." she said, "is making me horny as shit."

Everyone stared at her as she unconsciously began to fan herself.

* * *

A short while later they were outside the coffee shop, awaiting Kanji's arrival. He'd called again from the train station and would be at the mall soon.

"What are we going to do when he gets here?" Yosuke asked. "You wanted to visit that bridge, right? It's late enough now."

"We should go to a strip club," Nanako announced. "There are plenty by our hotel."

"No!" Chie put her hands on her hips and glared at Nanako. "We know it's just that stupid coffee talking."

However, no one else said a thing.

Chie turned her glare onto the team. "Guys! Back me up here. Yukiko!"

"I... I kind of want to know what it's all about," Yukiko admitted. "For business reasons, of course. But I am curious about how much strength is needed for pole dancing. I'd like to see that up close."

Yosuke was blushing so hard that Nanako thought he might pass out at any second. "W-won't the guys there creep out on you girls?"

"No worries," said Nanako. "We'll go to a gay strip club!"

"I have never been to such an establishment," Naoto said. "Interesting..."

Chie blinked hard and then rallied on, "But wait, they'd never let us in! We're just students."

Nanako smacked her own head. "Crap! I forgot my fake ID back in Toky—errr..." She cut herself off in the face of the look Naoto was giving her.

But perhaps she'd misinterpreted it. "Rise-san mentioned Club Escapade to me in one of our correspondences," Naoto said, "if that would suffice instead. It's right next door."

It was just a few feet away from the fountain they were standing at, as it turned out. Its sign consisted of gothic-style black lettering with a neon pink background. Nanako had to admit that alone made it look promising.

And weren't they lucky, because Kanji arrived while they were still staring at the door. "'Sup?" he said in greeting.

"Kanji-kun! How'd the tour go?" Nanako asked. She looked him up and down. He was wearing a black tank-top with a blazing skull on the front and some tight-fitting jeans. It was a good look for him... or maybe the dirty coffee was still talking.

"I got a couple'a keychains for my ma," he said, bringing one out from his pocket and holding it out. It had a cartoon representation of the Moonlight Bridge on it. "She collects 'em."

"Nice! Are you ready to party?"

They went inside the club and it was... not as happening a joint as one would expect for a Friday night. There were only four people on the dance floor and the singer at the stage wasn't accompanied by any musicians despite the fully-functioning drum set right next to her. There were better singers at the karaoke place.

Too bad there wasn't a piano.

"A gay bar would be more fun," Nanako said. "Just saying."

"Haha," Yosuke said sourly. "Maybe it's better this way. We need a break, and it might pick up soon enough."

Naoto split from the group to talk to the bar's attendant. Nanako worried for a moment that he was checking the bar's license to sell drinks. What a time to focus on his job, huh? But as it turned out, he was getting them a pass to the VIP lounge above the bar!

"How did you...?" Nanako asked while they were being led up to it.

Naoto took out his phone and tapped it. Ah, his connection with Rise was really coming in handy.

The VIP lounge was much nicer than the dance floor. The lighting was so muted that for a moment Nanako thought it was a UV blacklight, but sadly it wasn't. There were long red leather couches against the walls and a few glass tables with candles on them. They sat and ordered some exotic-sounding drinks from a menu when a server came by.

"What the heck is a Gargleblaster?" Chie asked.

"Don't ask what it is," Nanako advised, "just order it. Hmm, Fuzzy Navel... I think that has peach schnapps."

"Just a TaP Soda for me, man," Kanji said, and he didn't change his order even when Nanako nudged him hard in the ribs.

"Sex on the Beach?" Yukiko said. "That sounds naughty."

"I bet Nanako's done that," Yosuke muttered.

Nanako tried to kick him under the table, but ended up kicking the table's leg instead.

After everyone ordered, Nanako remarked that she was surprised the server hadn't asked for their IDs.

"Although the drinks are named after alcoholic beverages," Naoto said, "this establishment only serves non-alcoholic versions. It's been that way for quite some time. It's actually helped business since the mall's primary visitors are high schoolers."

"No booze?" Nanako said. "You're joking."

"I'm not," he said. "I don't condone underage drinking, either."

Killjoy, she thought, though she wasn't exactly for underage drinking herself. But her team needed something to loosen up with. They'd been so uptight about her 'hot' coffee earlier that it was almost like the bathhouse trips had never happened.

"Yeah, okay," Nanako said, nodding her agreement. "Why don't you all start playing a game or something? It's my turn to use the bathroom."

"There's one by the entrance," Yosuke told her. "Right where we came in."

He'd probably scoped it out, just in case he needed it himself later. He probably would. Alcohol was a diuretic, after all!

Because she wasn't really going to use the bathroom, of course. She left the club and headed right for the little alcove that housed the Velvet Room door. She took out her key and entered.

"Igor," she said, cutting directly to the chase, "I need to borrow some brandy. It's for Social Links."

Margaret actually laughed at her.

Igor almost imperceptibly raised an eyebrow at Margaret.

Margaret returned it with a frown.

Heh, Nanako thought. Was she actually going to win this? She knew 'Social Links' was the important keyword to use, but... this was Igor's expensive brandy they were talking about!

"Perhaps if you could... demonstrate your dedication," Igor said.

"What do you want me to do?" Nanako sat primly in her seat, all ears.

Margaret drummed her fingers over the Persona Compendium, apparently thinking. "Yes..." she murmured, more to herself than anyone present. She brought her steely gaze back to Nanako. "Fuse me Soma, the Hindu god of inspiration and the lunar cycle. Make sure it has Tentarafoo."

Nanako hid her disappointment. Fusion? She wasn't very good at that, and she wasn't even in the TV World to find new Personas or train old ones. She didn't know how to make that, and she didn't have that much money on hand, just what her aunt had given her for souvenirs.

...Maybe it was a good thing Naoto had bought that Loveline manga for her.

She set her mouth in determination. "Can you tell me what arcana it's from...?"

She also asked to borrow the Compendium along with a page of the notebook she'd given Marie and a pencil. She sat at the fusing table across from Igor and pored over the compendium, first noting which of her Personas even had the Tentarafoo skill. She'd have to work from that as a base.

The good thing was that Margaret and Igor would tell her what every combination of the Persona cards she currently had could produce. The bad part was the 'currently had' aspect. They couldn't predict a fusion result by looking at the Personas' entries in the Compendium alone. She'd have to purchase the actual cards from it, and there was a chance the card she'd buy wouldn't even help her.

Sweat collected on her brow as she tried her best to figure out the pattern to fusion. Queen Mab and Oni made a Setanta. It was a soldier boy with a blue scarf and a bowl cut just like Souji's. He was cuuuute. Even if she failed Margaret's request, at least she'd made that.

She really didn't want to fuse that away... Hopefully her wallet could take the hit!

"One more thing," Igor said while she was debating summoning out her Jack Frost again. "We can perform four-way fusions. There are some Personas that can only be made this way."

"Using four cards, huh?" Nanako continued to frown down at her cards on the table. This was getting even more complicated!

"They work differently from three-way fusions. There is only one combination to produce them." He went on to explain that Neko Shogun needed four specific Personas.

She tilted her head and gave him a look. "When can I fuse five cards together?"

"Ah," Igor said. "I'm glad you asked. In fact, that's open to you now as well. And so is six-card fusion, although these Personas may be too strong for you to handle at your current strength of heart."

"If you can do that, why not all my cards?"

"All power has its limits."

Yeah, yeah, she thought with a sigh. "Wait!" she said suddenly. "Is the Soma one of these?"

Igor's grin seemed kinder all of a sudden.

* * *

"All right, I'm back, you guys—what the heck is going on here?"

Nanako had returned to the VIP lounge to find Kanji doing a headstand on the center of one of the tables. 

"D-don't think I can... k-keep it up... much longer..." Kanji whimpered.

"It's all right, dude," Yosuke said. "Want some help getting down?"

Kanji's arms were shaking from the effort of keeping himself balanced there. Yosuke took hold of one of his legs and helped lower him down into a crouch and back to his feet.

"No, really. What the heck?" Nanako asked again.

Yukiko began to giggle, and Nanako had her culprit right there.

"We're playing—what is it? Queen's Game?" Chie shook her head. "There are these chopsticks, and one's the queen who orders someone else to do something, but you don't know who it is until you've already said. Yukiko was the queen this round and ordered #3 to do a handstand for as long as they could."

"Sweet. Let's keep playing. But after you guys all have had a drink!" Nanako pulled the bottle of brandy she'd earned (at the cost of her entire souvenir fund) from under her arm and set it on the table.

"What is this?" Naoto was alarmed. "And where did you obtain such a thing?"

"Relax," Nanako said. "I won't force anyone to have a drink. But I sure as hell want one." She found her non-alcoholic Fuzzy Navel and poured a healthy amount of brandy into it. She downed it all in one go, too, though it made her gasp.

She knew Igor would have the good stuff!

When her friends continued to stare at her, she added, "If you guys don't have at least a little, I'm gonna drink the whole bottle myself."

"It can't hurt," Yukiko said, somewhat hesitantly. "We're all friends." She handed her half-finished cup to Nanako and had her pour some into the cup.

"Y-Yukiko!" Chie said, scandalized. Nanako just gave her a look, and Chie pressed her lips together and then asked Nanako to pour her some, too.

"This is really not a good idea," Yosuke muttered.

"One drink is not enough to put any of us over," Nanako said. "...Probably."

Yosuke sighed... and then handed Nanako his cup. Kanji soon followed suit. Nanako looked at Naoto after that.

"Maybe one sip," he said, a strangely curious look on his face.

Nanako handed him her cup to take a sip from so as not to ruin his drink. He sipped it very daintily.

"How is it?" Nanako asked.

"...feels like my insides are burning," Naoto muttered. He paused, then added, "I could get used to this."

"You're already one step closer to your dream of being a hard-boiled detective!" Nanako said with a grin.

Naoto shrugged off her comment by picking up the stack of chopsticks on the table and shuffling them systematically. He held them in one hand and hid their marks with the other. Nanako reached out and took the nearest one. It was not the queen's chopstick.

"Oh, I'm the queen again," Yukiko said with a small but delighted giggle. "This time I want #1 to tell us about their first crush! Who's #1?"

Yosuke rolled his head on his shoulders with a grimace. "Yeah, all right. It was my second grade teacher. She was nice, okay?"

That was surprisingly cute, and everyone told him so, to his acute embarrassment.

In the next round, Kanji was the winner. He stared at his chopstick in surprise.

"Make it good, Kanji-kun!" Nanako encouraged.

"Err, umm... try to lick your elbow," Kanji said. "Uhh... #5, that is."

"I don't think I can even do that," Chie said, staring down at her left elbow.

"That's why he said 'try,'" Yosuke said. "Come on, do it!"

Chie gave it a good try. She twisted her arm this way and that, like a dog chasing its tail. She even growled. At some point she unbalanced herself and fell across Yukiko and Nanako's laps. She ended up with her waist over Yukiko's lap and her head on Nanako's.

"Yeah, I think that's enough," she gasped up at Nanako, exhausted from the effort.

Nanako brushed her fingers through Chie's short hair. It was her only chance to be able to do something like this! Well, she'd tried in the bath last night, but Chie's hair had been wet then, and...

When Chie tried to sit up, Yukiko held her down. "Stay there for the next round," Yukiko said, her words slurring a little. Her face was as pink as her flowery Persona's clothing. Ah, so she was a lightweight when it came to alcohol. Good to know... Nanako filed it away into the back of her own slightly fuzzy mind.

Having Chie's head in her lap made it hard for Nanako to pick her chopstick in the next round when Naoto held them out to her. She ended up choosing the nearest one. Maybe that was a good thing because it made her the queen.

"Heh, all right," Nanako said, poking Chie's head with the chopstick. "I want #2 to strip off a piece of their clothes!"

"Nanako!" Chie scolded. She tried to sit up again, but Yukiko purposely held her down, so she gave up.

"Hey," Nanako said, "it doesn't have to be anything important. A sock is fine... if you're part of the no fun zone."

"This game does seem to be escalating," Naoto remarked. "Not that I'm complaining. It is rather fun due to the random factor."

Nanako glanced at Naoto and realized that starting them stripping might be a bad idea.

Except that in the periphery of her vision, Yosuke was totally taking off his shirt.

"What?" he said when all eyes were on him. "I'm used to it. You girls have seen this before, anyway."

"It wasn't impressive back then, either," Nanako said with an exaggerated sigh.

"C-come on," he protested. "I'm way more muscular than I used to be." He tried to flex his biceps and it wasn't unimpressive, actually. Maybe he'd been training over summer.

He kept his shirt off after that. When Chie accidentally knocked over her drink while picking her chopstick in the next round, it ended up being used as a rag to wipe the mess up with.

"Gonna reek like alcohol," Yosuke muttered. "What'll my mom think?"

"That you had a good time, hopefully!" Nanako said. "Who's the queen this round?"

"Me, actually," said Chie. "Can I get up now?"

Yukiko finally relented and Chie sat up—but Yukiko immediately grabbed onto her arm and kept her close.

"Geez, Yukiko," Chie complained, but her cheeks were rosy and she wasn't unhappy about it at all.

"Order..." Yukiko said, "order them to... to tell us a ssssecret about themselffffs! Do it do it!"

"No more drinks for Yukiko, okay Nanako?"

"Heh heh," Nanako replied. "Just give your order, honey."

Chie stared at Yukiko while she thought for a long time. Then she shrugged. "Tell us a secret, #3."

"The active ingredient in alcohol is ethanol," Naoto said.

"I said a secret, not trivia! And something about yourself."

Naoto chuckled. "Very well. I am aware that many people associate me with my cap. But my grandfather has his own unique hat that his father handed down to him." He took out his phone and showed everyone a picture.

It was a boy's school cap, black with a silver band, sitting prominently on a desk in someone's study.

"It's his prized possession."

"That's kinda neat, I guess," Chie said. "All right, next round!"

Chie turned out to be the queen again.

"Man, I've never gonna win," Yosuke complained. "Everyone's had a round except me!"

"What about Shirogane-san?" Nanako pointed out.

"He had a round when you were at the restroom. He was one of the first."

"I missed it?" Nanako sighed in an exaggerated way. "Oh well. What's your order, Queen Satonaka?"

"#4 has to to 50 jumping jacks!"

"Oh dear," said Yukiko. "I don'... I don' think I can... stand up that long." She swayed in her seat.

"Damn," said Chie. "Does that mean this round is a bust?"

"Make her tell a ghost story instead," Nanako suggested.

"NO! Don't even joke about that!"

"Som'one say... ghosts...?" Yukiko seemed to perk up suddenly.

"#4 has to give Chie a kiss," Nanako said.

"Nanako!" Chie protested.

Yukiko blinked, trying to focus on her chopstick. Then she grinned and began to kiss Chie right on the lips. It was a long and sweet one that Chie couldn't break free of—assuming she even wanted to.

When Yukiko resurfaced for breath, Chie hid her face against her girlfriend's long hair, apparently too embarrassed to face everyone after that.

"Heh heh," said Nanako. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Nanako collected Chie and Yukiko's chopsticks for them for the next round. They were almost too busy clinging to each other to participate. She ended up picking out chopsticks for them and herself as well—but none of them were the winners.

"Finally I'm the queen!" Yosuke shouted, holding up his prize chopstick as if it was a lottery ticket worth millions. "Oh, man... what should I ask?"

"Ask your victim to take a double shot," Nanako suggested. They still had some brandy left that needed to be used!

"Make 'em sing the national anthem," Kanji said.

"You missed out on karaoke, Kanji-kun," Nanako informed him. "We already did a lot of singing."

"I know," said Yosuke. "#1 has to take off their bra for the rest of the night!"

"What!?" Chie yelled, pulling away from Yukiko. "That's going too far, Yosuke!"

Yukiko began to snicker. "'Sides... Wh-what if #1's a... boy...?"

"Okay, okay, I'll come up with something else." Yosuke held up his hands to fend off Chie's wrath. "Don't hit me. #1 can... err... Nanako?"

Nanako's hands were under her shirt as she worked on undoing her bra. "It's not a big deal," she murmured. "There." Her hands emerged in their proper places from her shirt, and one was clutching her bra. She began to swing it around idly on her forefinger.

Everyone was staring at her, except Yosuke whose eyes were caught on the bra, watching its every movement.

"What? It's just the same thing as my strip request!" Nanako shrugged. The material of her shirt felt weird now that it was directly against her breasts, but she'd live.

"Yeah, but he specified a bra," Chie said.

"Yeah, and I said he could strip off a sock and he ended up taking off his shirt! Look, I'm not a dick who thinks this is about embarrassing others. It's about having fun! It wasn't like he asked to feel me up or anything."

"I don't know why I asked that," Yosuke said sheepishly.

"You were thinking with your other head, probably." Though Nanako noted now that Yosuke was the one who'd drunk the least out of all of them. He probably wanted to keep his wits about him. 

Yosuke didn't answer that, though his body did by producing a nice rosy blush on his cheeks. 

That blush darkened when Nanako suddenly settled the bra on his head. "What are you—?" he protested, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he tried to see what she was doing.

"Hold still, silly!" Nanako ordered. She pulled out her camera and snapped a quality photograph.

"D-don't blackmail me!" he cried. He began to claw at the bra, trying to pull it from his messy hair, but Nanako had strapped it under his chin, so he only succeeded in pulling it over his eyes.

"I'm not." She laughed. "It's for Souji-kun. Remember? With that bra, you're just like the picture of him in my phone!"

Yosuke stopped struggling to peer at her. "Seriously? No, somehow I believe it." He sighed and shook his head. "Help me out of this, will you?"

"Now you know the struggle of being a girl," Nanako muttered while she freed his hair from her bra.

"Here, here!" Chie agreed.

"But if you're ever going to bring a girl to your room, you should learn how to unhook one yourself."

Yosuke sent her an exasperated look before falling back into his seat. He took a long drink after that, as if he deserved one. Nanako rolled her eyes as she collected the chopsticks to begin the next round of their game.

This time Naoto was made queen.

"Hmm," he said. He hesitated before speaking. "I... want #2 and #3 to sing the Featherman theme song together."

"Which season?" Nanako asked. "First?"

He nodded.

"Uh, I don't think I know all the words," Kanji said.

"Neither do I," said Nanako. "It's all right, we can hum past the parts we don't know! And... I guess you're gonna get some karaoke action anyway!"

Kanji smiled at her. Maybe he'd really missed being with them. "Let's do it, Senpai!"

Their duet was a total mess. They ended up humming the entire theme completely out of sync, but by the end, everyone was laughing, except Naoto who was just smiling and shaking his head.

"All right," said Nanako after that. "I think this should be our final round. It's almost midnight, and I think we're all getting tired." Yukiko definitely seemed to be about to fall asleep on Chie's shoulder. "And I still want to see that bridge!"

She collected the chopsticks and they all picked one. And Nanako ended up as queen again.

"#5 needs to dance for us," she ordered. "Any kind of dance. Just do it!"

Naoto stood up from his seat, looking very thoughtful. He held his arms out stiffly at his sides, and then...

Then he began to do a robot-like dance.

Nanako clapped her hands in glee, and Naoto began to laugh out loud, possibly to stave off his embarrassment, as he continued his 'dance.'

His laugh was so cute!

"Perfect, Shirogane-san!" she told him when he sat back down.

He didn't acknowledge her compliment, but he was definitely still smiling, and maybe that smile even grew wider.

And after that, while Naoto was picking up the chopsticks, they decided to have one more game.

No one spoke up to say they were the queen.

"Uh, someone's got to be it," Nanako said with a frown.

"What... are we doing again?" Yukiko asked.

Chie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, look, it's Yukiko. She's the queen, again."

"Yes, I am a queen, my prrrrince," she purred.

Chie took the queen's chopstick from her. She turned it over in her hands, glanced at Nanako, and then glanced back at it. "All right," she said. "I want... #1 and #3 to kiss."

"Is that all?" said Nanako.

"You made Yukiko kiss me, so... I want someone to kiss you!"

"The joke's on you," Nanako said, "because I'm not either of those numbers."

"...Oh," said Chie, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, guys."

"Yeah, I'm #3." Yosuke held out his chopstick as proof. "But who's #1? It's not you, is it, Chie? I mean, you took the queen's but you had your own, so..."

"Do you think I'd choose myself?" Chie countered.

"Uhh, Senpai?" Kanji said, his voice rather meek. "It's me."

"Kanji," Yosuke said. His tone didn't have any discernible emotion, and a moment later he shrugged and leaned towards Kanji, but the boy shied away. Yosuke gave him a confused look. 

"I... I can't," Kanji mumbled. "Sorry, Senpai."

"Wh-why not?" Yosuke asked. He sounded like he might be offended.

"I already have a boyfriend," Kanji said. "So... I won't kiss anyone else."

Yosuke blinked. "Huh," he said.

"Yeah," said Kanji.

"I didn't know that," Chie said. "Where did you meet him?"

"Okina City. He was just sittin' on a bench, and..."

"Love at first sight?" Yosuke was frowning, but he didn't seem upset, just surprised at this turn of events.

"Naw, we just got to talkin', and well... Now we're together. I was helping him with the tours—he's a second year—it's why I wasn't with you guys earlier."

"I thought that was your homeroom teacher's fault," Yosuke said. "Well... I'm happy for you Kanji. And you know..."

"Yes, Senpai?"

"If he treats you badly, let one of us know. Nanako will kick his ass."

Nanako laughed. "I would, too! But I think it'll be okay. I checked him out and he's a sweetie."

"I bet you did check him out," Yosuke teased.

She smiled at him, because he was totally right. "Say," she said. "If a kiss on the lips is too much, how about the cheek?"

"Ah, it's all right," said Yosuke. "It's not like I wanted to kiss him!"

"That'd be okay, Senpai," Kanji said.

"Well..." Yosuke hesitated. He glanced around at everyone present. Then he bit his lower lip and nodded. He leaned forward and gave Kanji a peck on the cheek.

* * *

[9/10: Saturday]

Nanako woke up to a woman's voice shouting at her. When she finally blinked her eyes into focus, she found it was Ms. Kashiwagi.

Ignoring the teacher's words for a moment, Nanako attempted to sit up, but her legs were being held down by... Oh, Yukiko was sleeping on her. Ah, that's right. So tired after their party, they'd all kinda collapsed into the same waterbed at the love hotel. That was definitely Yosuke's head on Yukiko's belly, Chie's arm over his chest, Kanji half on and half off the bed... There was the reek of alcohol, too, probably from Yosuke's shirt, and maybe Yukiko's because she'd been sort of spilling it on herself after a point.

"What happened here?" Ms. Kashiwagi demanded.

Nanako rolled her head on the waterbed mattress to face her. She worked her very dry mouth for a moment. Smiling and thinking of Mr. Morooka, she said, "Can't you tell? We obviously had a quality orgy last night."

Ms. Kashiwagi seemed at a loss for words.

"Sorry we didn't invite you," Nanako added.

The teacher recovered in that moment. "Your mother is going to hear about this!"

Nanako sighed, then scrounged in her pocket and found her phone. She navigated to her mom's entry and pressed the call button. "Hey, Mom! Everything's fine. My teacher wants to talk to you. I'm gonna give her the phone!"

Ms. Kashiwagi stared at her, but then she snatched the phone out of Nanako's hand. "Dojima-san? Yes, it's about your daughter..." She walked out of the room, talking animatedly on the phone.

Nanako grinned to herself. Then she sighed and began the laborious process of waking up, first extricating herself from Yukiko. Where was her bra, anyway? Nanako hadn't put it back on when they left the club because it would've been too much effort. Oh, there it was. Hmm... she wasn't going to ask why it was wedged under Chie's arm. Chie stirred when she pulled it out.

"Wha... Nanako...?" Chie murmured.

"Help me get the others up. We still have time before the train, but we ought to think about getting ready."

Chie sat up suddenly and surveyed the intertwined bodies around her. "Wha... what did we do last night?"

"What didn't we do?" Nanako teased. "Don't worry. We all just slept." I think that's all, she added in her mind.

Ms. Kashiwagi stormed back into the room, a strange look on her face. She handed the phone back to Nanako and then abruptly about-faced and left the room.

Nanako put the phone to her ear. "Mom, you still there?"

"Yes, honey." Her mom didn't sound upset or tired or anything, which was a good sign. "Your teacher is not happy with you."

"She's the one who had us stay in a refurbished love hotel."

There was a bit of a pause. Then, "Honey, there's just one thing I need to know about last night."

Nanako swallowed. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Did you use protection?"

"Mom!"

Chisato laughed, and Nanako found herself blushing. "I know I didn't have to ask that, honey. I'm glad to hear that you and your new friends are getting along so well."

"Y-yeah... me too," Nanako said, smiling as she watched Chie start to wake up the crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> herrdoktorat wrote the Edogawa scene for this chapter. I thought I should credit him since I forgot to do so for the scene he wrote in the previous chapter, whoops!
> 
> Next Chapter: Irons in the Fire
> 
> The Marukyu tofu shop has some great ganmodoki. Just saying.


	45. Irons in the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the field trip, the team is on high alert knowing that Rise Kujikawa is a target.

"And this is the Moonlight Bridge," Nanako said, handing her aunt the photograph. "Too bad the moon wasn't full last night. It's still very pretty, anyway!"

After a long (and frankly boring) train ride, the DEATH Squad members were finally back in Inaba. 

To Nanako and Naoto's surprise, Aunt Seta had been waiting with Souji at the train station to pick them up. Now it was evening, and they were at home and going through the pictures Nanako had taken on the trip. They'd had the film developed at a store in the shopping district while they'd eaten dinner at Aiya.

"That bridge looks a lot bigger than ours," Souji observed.

"It's four lanes across," Nanako informed him, "and you can see that even at midnight there were people driving across it! The city is a whole different place from Inaba."

"In the city," he said, "there are buildings taller than Junes."

"Taller and bigger than a t-rex!"

"Have you ever been to the city, Souji-kun?" Naoto asked.

"No..."

After considering it, Nanako wasn't sure Souji would like the city. It was noisy and busy, and her baby boy, well... That wasn't an environment for him. 

"No," Aunt Seta said. "The farthest he's been out of Inaba is the beach we visited."

"That's right!" Nanako said as the thought came to her. "You guys never visited me and my family. Tokyo is far, but not that far." 

Aunt Seta shifted in her seat. "We always intended to."

"Yeah, I know how it is."

It wasn't like Nanako's family had visited the Setas, either. Now that she thought about it, it made her upset. She could've known Souji as a baby and a toddler. Though... she would've been younger, too, maybe too young to appreciate how precious the child was.

"When I go back home. I promise to visit you guys as often as I can!" Nanako declared. 

"I will hold you to that, young lady!" 

As Aunt Seta smiled at her, Nanako considered how even her aunt had changed in the short time she'd known her—though she still wasn't sure why the woman hated having Souji's drawings on her refrigerator.

"Part of me wishes I could move," Aunt Seta confided. "To be closer to the family. Sometimes continuing to live in Inaba is difficult. But it's simply not feasible. My career wouldn't let me, not without consequences. And I do have friends here that I would miss."

"Souji-kun also has friends," Naoto said with a nod. "Yuuta-kun and Takeyoshi-kun."

"You'd surely miss them," Nanako murmured, trying not to think about how much she'd miss him when she returned to Tokyo.

There was a short silence, and then Naoto spoke, somewhat hesitantly. "Since we are on the subject, I feel that I should tell you that the police have relinquished my apartment. I can move back at any time."

"You're leaving us?" Nanako asked, wide-eyed.

"N-no." Naoto turned to Aunt Seta. "That is... if it's not too much trouble, I would very much like to remain here."

"Of course," Aunt Seta said, waving a hand. "Stay as long as you need. We enjoy your company, Shirogane-kun."

"Thank you. You're very kind."

There was companionable silence for a moment, and then Nanako brought forth the next set of pictures she'd taken.

"Ah," Aunt Seta said, an appreciative smile on her face. "This is a wonderful shot."

It was a picture of the city's skyline. Swatches of cottony clouds filled the spaces between the tallest buildings. The angle of the sun had given the buildings a golden sheen.

"The Kirijo Group owns most of Tatsumi Port Island," Aunt Seta said, "although they use subsidiary company names to hide that fact. Never insult a competitor there—they may actually be an ally. I learned that on a business trip."

"I think they own the school we visited," Nanako said. "I have to say, it was a pretty nice school, but with all that company money backing it up, it's pretty obvious why it's so nice."

Aunt Seta nodded. "If we lived there, Souji would be going to Gekkoukan. That is certain."

"Moonlight," Souji murmured. "Sounds... p-pretty."

"I didn't see the elementary school, just the high school," Nanako said. She handed a picture of the persimmon tree to Souji. "Do you like persimmons? Maybe we should plant a tree here in the yard! You'll be in high school when it finally grows some fruit." 

But Souji didn't focus on the tree at all; instead he was looking at the two girls holding hands in the picture. "Chie-san and Yukiko-san... Th-they're like you and Saki-san."

"That's right—wait, me and Saki? When did you..." 

Now Aunt Seta was chuckling. "You forget that he is part Dojima as well."

And Nanako remembered now that she hadn't been very subtle at all during the beach trip, so of course Souji would have figured out her relationship with Saki. At least he wasn't traumatized like Yuuta had been.

"Y-yeah," Nanako said. "Yukiko and Chie are close. I think they're doing okay." 

She thought they were doing okay, but this reminded her that she needed to check up on them soon. 

"Come to think of it," she said, "I think the Amagi Inn has a persimmon tree. And like every breed and crossbreed of Japanese pine ever imagined. I think their groundskeeper is a breeder." She paused, but no one really had anything to say about that. "Say, you ever been to a hot springs, Sou-chan?"

"N-no..."

"Do you want to? It's like taking a bath outside. I'm sure we'd have lots of fun."

"I haven't been to a hot springs in a long time either," Aunt Seta remarked, sounding thoughtful.

"We should all go!" Nanako said. "Let's make it another family trip. And you'll come with us, Shirogane-san! You're part of our family now."

"W-well, indeed, I could use some relaxation," Naoto said. "If Seta-san can coordinate a day off, I'm certain I could manage to do it as well."

"Hmm," was the only thing Aunt Seta said, and a moment later she was bringing out her day planner.

* * *

[9/12: Monday]

It was back to school on Monday, and the teachers didn't give them any sort of break. Their composition teacher demanded a narrative essay detailing the events of the field trip, Ms. Sofue gave them a quiz over stuff they were supposed to have learned on the tour (the one that Nanako and crew had skipped, of course), and during P.E., Mr. Kondo somehow assumed that since they hadn't been at school, they hadn't gotten any exercise at all and made them run laps to make up for it.

While Nanako was rehydrating at the drinking fountain, Mr. Kondo interrupted to ask her about her participation in the basketball club. Apparently there was practice today and he expected to see her there.

And that was exactly why she hadn't wanted to join a club, she thought with an internal sigh. Before Nanako could even respond, Mr. Kondo had moved on to speak with Chie about the track team.

Though it wasn't like she had any other plans today, so after completing her assigned after-school cleaning tasks, she headed to the gym, where the basketball team was just preparing to play. There were actually enough boys gathered to play a full game rather than simply practice, which surprised Nanako, but if they were gonna get hot and sweaty from a little competition, well, she wasn't going to complain. Heh heh.

She watched the game from the sidelines, although on some level she wanted to join in as well, despite her height being a detriment to this particular sport. The teams had been decided apparently at random, so she didn't have a side to root for and just cheered everyone on fairly equally. 

However, one team quickly began to dominate the other until the game churned to a halt, the losing team too dispirited to continue.

The losing team gathered into a circle. "What the hell is wrong with you, Kou?" one of the boys shouted.

"I guess my head isn't in the game today," Kou replied with a shrug.

"You missed every shot, dude. That's not like you."

"And my pass!" another boy added.

"And you kept letting them steal the ball from you. You weren't just out of the game, you were out of the damned country."

"I'm just rusty from summer," Kou said. "I'll do better next time, I promise! I'll make it up to you—I'll take care of the cleanup. You guys head on home."

No one could complain about that. Soon only Nanako and Kou were left in the gym. A basketball had been left by Kou's feet, and he stared somewhat forlornly down at it. He didn't seem about to put it away any time soon.

"If you stand there any longer, I'm going to start questioning your dedication to balls," Nanako remarked. "Shouldn't you be polishing that? Heh heh."

He jumped, apparently not realizing she'd been there. "Oh, y-yeah... I'll get right on it," he said without enthusiasm.

"Look, Kou-kun, if you're not feeling it today, you're not feeling it," she told him. "Everyone's allowed to have a bad day. Don't let it get you down. You'll knock them out next time!"

"Sure..."

His noncommittal response didn't reassure her. Probably there was more going on here than a bad day. There was, of course, no way that he was 'rusty from summer' since a guy who loved basketball so much would have played every day during the break.

"Kou-kun," she said in a warning tone.

He sighed and nudged the basketball with his toe. It began to roll away. He didn't stop it on its new journey. "Is this really all that I am?" 

"I don't know," she said. "Is it?"

He glanced at her, and then smiled, though his eyes seemed to be glistening. "Basketball was something I was doing to get back at my family. You know, a sort of rebellion. They disapproved of me investing myself into a sport. And then I found out over summer that I was rebelling for nothing. Now they don't even care."

"You're saying you no longer have an incentive to play basketball?"

"Pretty much," he said with false cheer.

"The camaraderie, the athleticism, the competition isn't enough?" Nanako hummed. "The _balls_ aren't enough?" she added in a more incredulous tone.

"The balls might be enough," he admitted, and this time his smile seemed more genuine. She grinned right back at him. Then he sighed. "I dunno. You know, even my buddy Daisuke hasn't been all that into soccer lately. No one seems to know what's going on with that, either."

"Don't change the subject," she told him. "Look, if you're no longer into basketball, that's fine. You just gotta find something else to take its place. Is there something else you'd rather do after school?"

"I don't know," he said, and she shook her head.

"You don't have to figure it out right this second. Take some time to think about it. And talk to Daisuke. Maybe you have something in common, eh?"

"Yeah," he began slowly, then he nodded. "Yeah!"

"But you still gotta polish the balls today. You did volunteer, after all."

With a rueful shake of his head, Kou jogged after the ball, which had rolled all the way to the other side of the gym. Nanako watched after him, waiting.

But to her confusion, she never heard that mysterious voice telling her that a social link had been established.

* * *

[9/13: Tuesday]

After the dismissal bell rang, Nanako packed her bag, and when she turned to leave the classroom, she found Yosuke standing by her desk with his arms crossed. It was obvious by his positioning that he was waiting for her.

"Hey, Nanako..." he said. He sounded hesitant. 

"What's up?" she asked.

"Ayane-san and I are going to practice," he said. "You know, with my guitar and her trombone. I was thinking you could practice with us. If you'd like to, that is."

"The band room is free? I thought today was a club day."

"Well, it's supposed to be a club day, but the leader canceled it for today. That means it's free, and... the piano's waiting for you."

His smile was softer than she expected on his face after all they'd been through. Partly shy and partly hopeful.

"Yeah," she said, smiling back at him. 

A chance to play the piano again? She wouldn't refuse that.

* * *

They walked to the band room together and found Ayane inside straightening the music stands. "O-oh, Senpai!" Ayane said upon seeing them. "I've got the sheet music ready for us! Nanako-senpai, I'm glad you could join us."

Nanako stared at her for a moment. Ayane's hair was much longer than it had been during the spring term. It made her look older than a first-year. She looked genuinely happy, too, and Nanako couldn't help but smile back at her. "Yeah, what are we playing, anyway?"

Nanako was curious because she'd never heard of a trombone-and-guitar duo. After looking at the sheet music, she discovered that they'd modified a jazzy french horn piece to work with a trombone instead. With some skill, it could work. 

And to her surprise, they had exactly 'some skill.' All that practicing Yosuke and Ayane had done over summer must have paid off. In fact, Nanako was the one whose playing seemed to be lacking. A whole summer without a piano had taken its toll on her skill, though the piano's condition was also partly to blame.

As Nanako played, she watched the other two. Ayane's expression was one of concentration, and Yosuke's was serene—unguarded, even. She liked it on him. She'd seen something similar only once before... but you couldn't call that serene, exactly...

While they were still playing, the door to the club room opened, and the band club leader walked in, a puzzled expression on his face. Both Ayane and Yosuke's postures stiffened, but the interruption didn't stop either of them from playing. The club leader surveyed the room before taking a seat at one of the many music chairs to watch the performance.

It was fortunate the song was nearly done, because his presence was detrimental to their playing. They made several more mistakes than they'd made before he'd barged into the room. Although he hadn't said anything yet, it was obvious he wasn't here for entertainment.

When the song ended, Nanako sighed. Ayane hugged her trombone to her chest, and Yosuke shifted the guitar in his hands.

The band club leader didn't applaud. Some audience he was. He still looked puzzled behind his glasses. "You don't need to work so hard," he remarked, breaking the awkward silence that had followed their final notes. "Practice was canceled today."

"Can't improve without practice," Yosuke said. "I only just started playing, you know?"

"True," the band leader conceded. "But I thought you were learning the piano."

At that, Nanako could only blink in surprise. Yosuke... learning the piano? He had long enough fingers for it, but...

"And the guitar," Yosuke replied easily. "I'm still looking for a piano instructor. I haven't been able to find one over summer, so I spent more time on my guitar."

The band club leader thought about it for a moment. "Our adviser might be able to help you find one."

"Sure, I'll ask," Yosuke promised. "In the meantime..." He strummed the guitar lightly, making it hum. 

"Well, then. Don't let me interrupt you." The band club leader got up and left the room without a backward glance.

What a dick, Nanako thought as he was leaving, but to her surprise her thought seemed to be coming from outside her head. With a very raised eyebrow, she cast a glance at Ayane, who seemed to be pouting. Did she...? "Yeah, how can anyone like that guy?" Nanako said casually. 

Ayane suddenly started, thus proving Nanako's suspicion correct. She shook her head vigorously, blushing, 

"I joined this club because of the music," Yosuke added, "and definitely not because of him. But unfortunately it's a package deal."

"And that's exactly why I haven't joined. But speaking of music," Nanako said, changing gears. "You... want to learn the piano?"

Yosuke shrugged. "Not really, but I suppose you could always teach me."

She stared at him, and that's when it clicked. Yosuke had lied to the club leader. And the only reason she could come up with is that he'd done it for her—so that the piano wouldn't be removed from the club room.

So surprised by this turn of events, all Nanako could muster was a heartfelt, "Thanks."

He shrugged, the action awkward with the guitar still in his hands. "It's not like I wanted to move the piano back into the storage room. It's not hurting anything being out here. And if the band ever needs a piano player, how hard would it be to, y'know, just ask you?"

"According to that guy, very hard," Nanako said, rolling her eyes and shrugging. "I'm glad he's a third year. He'll be gone next year, and then you guys can have a fun band club."

"W-well, it is pretty fun already," Ayane protested, apparently feeling the need to take back her earlier comment. "When we all get together and play."

"Ayane-chan, he made you practice outside on your own instead of with the group!" Nanako pointed out—though she remembered how she'd agreed with him when he'd made that decision way back in the first term. Hindsight was still a bitch.

"It inspired me to get better," Ayane said.

"You're too nice," Nanako said.

"She is, isn't she?" Yosuke said. "She didn't mind at all when I joined her on the riverbank. I didn't even ask her if it was okay."

"Of course it's okay, Senpai!" Ayane said. "Your advice has helped me out a lot."

"Your advice?" Nanako raised an eyebrow at Yosuke. She was beginning to wonder if there was something more going on here than met the eye. 

"Y-yeah, I just..." Yosuke shifted his stance, apparently embarrassed. "I told her she ought to try letting her hair grow long."

"I always cut it short because it gets in my way," Ayane explained, "but having it long like this makes me feel more confident. Even if my mother complains. She thinks I'm cuter with it short."

"Depends on your definition of 'cute,'" Nanako murmured, mostly to herself. "I like what you've done with it, but speaking of hair, have you heard of a place called Uphairval in Okina City? I got mine done there once. I'm about due for another visit. Maybe we can go together sometime, eh?"

"Oh... m-maybe," Ayane said, not displaying much of the confidence she pretended to have. Little steps, Nanako thought. "I'm not the sort to do something like that."

"Yeah? Well, let me know. It feels pretty good to let someone else take care of your hair once in a while."

Ayane promised she'd think about it, and Nanako looked back at Yosuke, who was now putting away his guitar into its case, apparently bored by their girl talk.

"Your roots are starting to show," she told him. 

His natural hair color was, of course, typical Japanese black. Yosuke absently ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know. I haven't decided if I want to use the same color or not."

Nanako tried to imagine him with pink hair. Souji would love that.

"What do you think, Ayane-san?" Yosuke asked.

"M-me?" Ayane squeaked. "Umm..."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I'm kind of responsible for your hair change, so..."

Ayane frowned for a moment in concentration, her naturally-rosy cheeks getting rosier. "I-I think you should cut it!" she declared.

Yosuke's eyes widened, his nostrils flaring. "Th-that wasn't an option! I meant the color. You want me to _cut_ it?"

"It is starting to get long," Nanako pointed out, mildly amused by his defensive reaction.

He tugged a strand of his hair forward. It was long enough for him to see it from the corner of his eye. "Come on," he said in a pleading tone. "I like my hair the way it is."

"How long do you spend styling it every morning?" Nanako asked. "Think of all the time you'll save!"

"Not that long," he muttered. "I've got it down to an art by now."

"You don't have to cut it, Senpai," Ayane said judiciously. "I know it takes longer for boys to grow it out. I wouldn't want you to hate it for all that time."

"Yeah," he said, mollified—but he continued to play with his hair, as if he was still considering it.

* * *

They played a few more songs together, and Nanako came home feeling both chipper and exhausted. Piano playing used more muscles than one might expect, and she found herself looking forward to a long night's sleep.

She was somewhere in dreamland when she heard a front door open and close, but as sleepy as she was, she just shrugged it off. It was possibly the neighbor's house, after all...

The police siren she heard in the distance a short time later made her frown to herself, but she still kept her eyes closed and didn't react. It wasn't too uncommon to hear. Sound traveled fast in this sleepy town. It wasn't like it was right outside the house or anything...

The buzz of her phone made her blink open her eyes with a scowl. Didn't everyone know not to bother her at this time of night? She glared at her phone, watching the screen power down from being idle. It had been a text message.

She grabbed the phone, intending to turn it off to prevent further interruptions, and then...

And then she remembered the last time she'd ignored her friends, and...

She swiped the screen and read the message. 

INCIDENT @ TOFU SHOP!!1 WILL TXT DETAILS

Nanako sat up in her bed, almost instantly made fully awake. Incident? _Incident?_ There was no way she'd be able to sleep now.

Quickly she changed into more suitable clothes. After pocketing her phone, she headed downstairs. While she passed by the kitchen on her way out, she paused. She was going out in the middle of the night. She might not be home before morning. She couldn't give Souji any reason to worry about her absence, not after the last time... So despite her hurry, she took the time to write a note and leave it in the kitchen for Souji to find. _Big sis is out with big bro, but I'm sure we'll be back soon! :)_

And then she was off. She made her way down to the shopping district. At least three police cars were parked right in front of the tofu shop, their lights flashing. Poor Kanji, Nanako thought. Although the sirens weren't sounding, she was sure his ma would be having difficulty sleeping tonight from all the commotion.

Focused on the sight of a couple of officers setting up a plastic barricade, Nanako was almost caught by a patrol. She ducked into an alley in barely enough time to avoid the policeman's flashlight. She breathed as slowly and quietly as she could, employing a technique her dad had taught her. After the man passed by, she sneaked in the direction opposite the way he'd come. She really couldn't be caught; there was no way to explain the thief's knife she now kept strapped to her thigh.

Finally she was where she wanted to be: an alleyway opposite the tofu shop's front entrance. From here she could survey the situation better with a pair of binoculars she'd brought along. With muted excitement, she scanned the area. The only light was from a streetlight and the police cars, making it difficult to make sense of the situation. Most of the police were gathered right in front of the store. Nanako recognized Naoto by his cap. He was writing everything down in his notebook. In fact, he seemed to be interviewing an officer—wait, was that officer Adachi-san!?

Nanako narrowed her eyes. It was. Apparently Adachi was the incident's prime witness. Everyone was gathered around him and hanging onto his every word. Nanako dearly wished she'd learned to read lips, though she knew she'd get Naoto's report later, because she had no idea what he was telling everyone. 

Adachi waved one hand wildly as he recounted his story. His other hand was so still that it was quite conspicuous, and Nanako adjusted her binocular's focus until she could see it more clearly. Adachi was holding a cloth to his mouth. It seemed like he'd been in a fight or something. A nurse on the sidelines tried to inspect his injuries, but Adachi waved her off.

Now Nanako was even more curious, and she recognized that while everyone was focused on Adachi's ongoing report, she could take a look at the crime scene, assuming the incident had happened within the tofu shop. Recalling the layout of the store as best she could, she presumed there had to be a side or back entrance that she could use. To cross the street, she walked all the way around the far end of the shopping district. Luckily, no one seemed to have seen her; the cloudy weather was her ally. No wonder Izaya liked it so much.

There was a side door, and luck was again with her as it was totally unlocked. The smell of cigarettes permeated the air in the area—she had a feeling a cop had been here recently, had probably gone out to this alley for a smoke break. Hopefully he wouldn't return anytime soon.

She slipped into the tofu shop. The room was she entered was dimly lit by a small reading lamp in the corner. It was some sort of living area unrelated to the store with a couple of couches and a small TV against the wall. 

An elderly woman was reading on the couch. She looked up at Nanako and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the world away from the paperback. "Was there something else?" she asked. "Wait, you're not with the police..."

"Oh, Kujikawa-san!" Nanako said, recognizing the woman as Rise's grandma. "I'm so glad that you're okay. I heard something happened and got worried."

Grandma Kujikawa frowned. "You've never bought tofu from me. I don't know you."

Damn foxy grandma, Nanako grumbled internally.

"R-Rise-chan asked me to check on you while she was out," she tried, hoping the overly familiar honorific would be enough. "I was part of the group that warned her about the kidnapper."

"Rise did...?" the old woman started, but then her eyes lit up. "Oh, so you're friends with Naoto-kun!"

Nanako nodded, scanning the old woman with what she hoped were concerned eyes.

"You don't have to worry. I think only poor Tohru-kun was hurt."

Nanako faked a breath of relief, then pretended to be startled. "Adachi-san?" she said, putting some real concern into it given all they'd been through.

"Yes," the old woman said with a tight, reassuring smile. "I was asleep in my bedroom in the back of the store, you see, when a loud noise woke me up. I heard some sort a scuffle and shouting and headed for them immediately."

"That was dangerous, Kujikawa-san!" Nanako said, though in reality she was thinking the woman had some balls.

"In hindsight, perhaps," she admitted, "but I was worried about my store."

Turned out she never got to see the action, as Adachi was lying flat on the floor when she got there, though to his credit he seemed to be calling the police. Nanako asked her what Adachi was doing in her shop in the first place, and Grandma Kujikawa answered that he'd been assigned to watch the store every night since Rise had left town. "Or perhaps he volunteered," she added slyly. "My tofu is pretty good, after all."

Nanako smiled. Yeah, that grandma was all right. Anyway, the important thing was that apparently the kidnapper hadn't known that Rise was out of town and tried to kidnap her anyway. Adachi got a torn lip—which would probably make for a sexy scar whenever he decided to go rugged—and hopefully some info about the kidnapper that would help identify him once and for all. Things were getting exciting!

As she was preparing some more questions for the old woman, Nanako heard the side door she'd entered from sliding open. "Oh fuck," she mumbled, though maybe a few decibels too loud given the raised eyebrow Grandma Kujikawa was aiming at her. There was nowhere to hide in that room! Would the woman even cover for her if she tried to duck behind the couch? But before she could decide...

"Nanako-san," Naoto said, sighing tiredly. "I should be surprised to see you, but somehow it makes perfect sense."

"Hey, if you didn't want me involved, you shouldn't have texted!"

"I am aware of my mistake."

They stared at each other for a moment before breaking out into smiles, Naoto shaking his head ruefully.

"Well," the old woman said, interrupting their moment, "at least you two do seem to be friends."

"I would never lie to you, Kujikawa-san!" Nanako said with affected outrage, but the old woman merely waved it away, smiling all the while; she really was cool. "Any chance someone else is gonna follow you in here?" she then asked Naoto, deciding to drop pretenses now that the cat was out of the bag. "I'd rather not get caught twice."

"Not if we lock the door," Naoto said.

"Please do," Grandma Kujikawa added. "I, too, would like some peace, and in case it doesn't work, you can always head to the next room and talk there."

"You are very kind, Kujikawa-san," Naoto said, tipping his hat and smiling. Grandma Kujikawa smiled back, then went back to her reading. "To the next room, then."

Once there, Nanako and Naoto got right down to business, taking seats next to each other on a dusty old couch. Naoto reported that Adachi did not recognize his attacker, but that the man had shouted quite desperately that he 'had to save her!' all the while trying to shove a sweet-smelling cloth into Adachi's face. Despite Adachi's somewhat scrawny appearance, he was physically strong enough to resist and was able to prevent the cloth from reaching his nose and mouth. When that strategy failed, the kidnapper apparently socked him in the jaw, and when Adachi defended himself by punching him in return, the man gave up and ran away, but not before tripping him onto the floor. Although Adachi immediately called for backup, the man had gotten clean away, and the police were still scouring the neighborhood for him.

"No sign of a truck?" Nanako asked.

"Not this time. It seems he walked right up to the store and forced his way in through the delivery door entrance."

"Well, at least that part of the story matches up to his MO," Nanako remarked. She paused for a moment, thinking. "Did Adachi-san say any more about the killer? Like... an assessment of his strength, or something about the way he walked? Honestly, I thought you'd still be questioning him for more details."

"His superior officer arrived on scene," Naoto explained, "and Adachi-san was obligated to recount his story from the beginning. It didn't seem necessary for me to remain present. In the meantime, I'd intended to speak with Kujikawa-san about the arrangements for deliveries to the store. But I'll definitely speak with him again soon."

"Tomorrow is an Adachi Wednesday," Nanako mused. "I wonder if he'll come over after all this." He'd need a break from the rounds of questioning he was sure to go through. He wasn't likely to get any sleep today. By the time he was free, he'd be exhausted and probably not in the mood to socialize at all. Nanako wouldn't blame him if he skipped—but if he spun his fight with the killer into a thrilling tale, well, maybe it'd excite Aunt Seta, and...

"What are you thinking about?" Naoto asked. "Nevermind. I don't think I want to know."

"Heh heh," said Nanako. "Uh, anyway, can we take a look at where the fight took place? Well, unless there are officers on the scene or something."

"We can do that," Naoto said. "The site investigation has been wrapped up. Follow me." 

Naoto led the way out of the room and down a hallway. Soon they were in the storefront, right behind the counters where the tofu was prepared for customers. Although the ceiling lights were off, the area was illuminated by the fluorescent lights built into the tofu display shelves, providing enough light to see by. It wasn't perfect for investigating, but it would have to do. Turning on other lights might attract unwanted attention—outside the store's windows, Nanako could see flashing red and blue lights. Police were still around, even if none were inside the store at the moment.

Naoto continued on into a side room in the far corner. It was the storage room, housing mostly sealed containers of tofu and a large refrigerator. As it turned out, the delivery door was connected directly to this room.

Naoto took out a flashlight and shined it on the door. The lock did not appear to be broken in any way, shape, or form. The culprit had more finesse in breaking in than Nanako, apparently. Naoto explained that it was likely the door hadn't been locked—a stroke of luck for the culprit—or that he'd jimmied it open with a credit card. It was an older model of lock that wasn't resistant to such a simple technique.

Note to self, Nanako thought. Get a chain bolt. 

Although the police had likely combed the area for clues, Nanako took the flashlight from Naoto and checked over every nook and cranny in the storage room. She laid herself down flat on the floor and looked under the bottom shelves. She found only an old candy wrapper so dusty that it stained her fingers gray when she touched it.

"Great," she muttered, wrinkling her nose as she tried to clean her fingers. An idea occurred to her: if the room was this dusty, wouldn't the culprit have left footprints? She was excited for a second before realizing the floor wasn't all that dusty, it was just the area under the shelves that had been neglected in Kujikawa-san's cleaning duties.

Nanako sighed. With her luck, the culprit, with his average height and average build, probably wore an average shoe size, anyway. 

They left the storage room. According to Naoto, Adachi had been standing right by the food counter when the culprit surprised him—but Naoto suspected he'd actually been sitting on one of the stools. Nanako didn't disbelieve it. Being a night guard was boring work, and after a week of it with no incidents, he'd probably become complacent and spent his shift trying not to fall asleep.

Regardless of whether or not this was true, at least he'd had the facilities to defend himself. If he'd been knocked out, would the killer have thrown him into a TV? Then they'd have to rescue him, and... Nanako didn't want to think about it. Adachi-san already knew too much!

Naoto informed her that a stool had even been knocked over in the scuffle. The stools were all standing up now, and Nanako thought it was amusing that someone with the police had thought to right it when no one had thought to pick up all these papers that had been scattered from the counter.

With a soft sigh, Nanako began to pick up the papers. They seemed to be the store's financial accounts. This one was an order for 50 boxes of dashi stock from some company in Kyoto, and the next one was an invoice to be sent to the Amagi Inn. Apparently the Amagis had recently entertained a large party with a massive tofu platter.

After she'd gather all the papers, Nanako tapped the stack against the counter so that the papers would line up into an almost-perfect rectangle. One of the papers resisted, however, and when she pulled the offending paper out, it was easy to see why. It was about half the size of the other documents and its left edge was frayed; it had been torn out of a book.

She peered at it in the room's faint light. It seemed to be a page from someone's personal calendar. The page contained about half the month of August on it. On each day's square, someone had meticulously detailed the day's weather report.

Nanako's gut told her that she shouldn't ignore this. It wasn't impossible that Kujikawa-san would pay close attention to the weather since it could affect the store's business, but the pen strokes on this page were far more careful than the chicken scratch on the accounting documents. It wasn't her writing.

Nanako showed it to Naoto, who suggested they bring it to the woman's attention. They returned to the living room, where the elderly woman was still seated at the couch, reading by the soft yellow light of the lamp. 

"We're sorry to keep you up," Nanako said, deciding she really should apologize. By now it was only a few hours before she was supposed to get up for school.

"You should be more sorry to interrupt my reading," Grandma Kujikawa countered, holding up her book and tapping it with her index finger. "Why, they've almost solved the mystery. I think I know who did it, and I hope I'm wrong. It's a new author, you see, and I don't want to be smarter than they are."

"Yeah, at that rate, you might as well write the book yourself," Nanako said amiably. "Say, umm, could you take a look at this?"

Kujikawa-san set aside her mystery novel and adjusted her reading glasses on her nose before looking at the paper Nanako handed her. "Yes?" she asked politely after perusing it.

"Is it yours?"

Kujikawa-san shook her head. "Never seen it before in my life."

"We found it mixed in with your financial reports," Naoto explained.

"If you think I'm a suspect..." Grandma Kujikawa began to chuckle.

"I think you'd take better care to dispose of any evidence," Nanako teased. "Seriously, if it's not yours, where did it come from? Can you verify that it's not from a customer?"

"I rarely have a customer leave anything in the store," Kujikawa-san reported, "and if they did, I wouldn't have put it with my paperwork. Since it doesn't look important, I probably would have just thrown it away."

Nanako looked at Naoto. "This needs to be submitted as evidence."

Naoto nodded, took the paper and placed it into a plastic bag, saying he'd head to the station and do that as soon as they were done here.

And they were pretty much done, but Nanako liked Grandma Kujikawa so they continued to chat for a while longer. The woman began to relate the story of a large tofu mold she'd made in the shape of Masamune Date, and Nanako joked that if her history teacher caught wind of that, it might become her next assignment for the class.

"Well, you know where to find me, should that happen." Grandma Kujikawa's eyes were shining. "I might just have to submit that as an idea to the school..."

"Please don't," Nanako protested with a laugh.

They were all still chuckling when suddenly there was the rattle of a key in a lock. Someone was opening the side door. 

The fear of discovery must have been obvious on Nanako's face, because before she knew it, Kujikawa was shoving her into the next room and closing the door behind her.

Nanako blinked in the sudden darkness she found herself in, but soon voices had her rapt attention.

"Ah, Kujikawa-san, you're still awake. That's good."

It was Adachi-san. Nanako thanked her lucky stars that Kujikawa had acted so quickly on her behalf.

She couldn't hear Kujikawa's reply; the old lady's voice was just a bit too soft to hear through the door. She put her ear to the crack and strained her hearing as much as she could. "To what do we owe the pleasure?" the grandma was saying.

"I was just going to say that I'm being relieved for the night," Adachi continued. "We doubt that guy's going to come back tonight. Even so, there's going to be a patrol outside until morning. You can invite them inside if you want."

"But will they love my tofu as much as you did? That's the question."

"Ha ha." Adachi's laugh sounded forced. "Well, I'm out. Don't let that Shirogane-kun keep you up all night."

And with that, the cabbage detective was gone. To ensure that the coast was clear, Nanako waited for Kujikawa-san to open the door. The woman soon invited her back into the living room. 

"Thanks," Nanako told her. "For covering for me."

"It's not a problem," Kujikawa-san said. "However..."

Nanako sent her a questioning look.

"You could make it up to me by stopping by the store during our business hours and buying some tofu." 

The old woman was grinning, and Nanako couldn't help but shake her head in amusement.

* * *

[9/14: Wednesday]

The tofu shop incident was big news in the school. At the shoe lockers before school, Nanako overheard some kids talking about it:

"Why would anyone want to break into a tofu shop?"

"I don't know, their ganmodoki is pretty good."

"Not that good, surely."

"I'm just sayin'."

"Well, the police are saying it was the murderer who did it."

"Heh, I could murder some ganmodoki myself."

Nanako shook her head. You could joke about it when it wasn't personal. 

The day was rough; three hours of sleep was not enough to survive school on, but Nanako suffered through it, dozing during the classes she felt she could afford to miss. As a result, she didn't hear her name being called to answer a question, but Chie poked her awake with a start. Despite that save, she hadn't heard the question, and while she was scanning the chalkboard with bleary eyes in the hopes of finding some clue, Yosuke whispered, "Attendance logs," behind her. 

Her friends could be pretty awesome at times. 

"Are you getting enough sleep?" Chie asked her when lunch period began. "You were snoring so much that I'm surprised the class next door didn't hear you."

"I had a busy night," she said. "In fact, go get Kanji-kun, will you? We all need to meet up."

"Naoto-kun, too?" 

"Oh, no," Nanako replied. "You won't find him. He's at the station today. I have a feeling we won't be seeing him for a while." In fact, Souji had told her over breakfast that 'big bro' had never returned home last night. A few texts had given her the full story: Naoto was simply hard at work. Nanako shouldn't have expected anything less.

Chie nodded and headed out of the classroom. Nanako grabbed Yosuke and Yukiko and told them they were going to have lunch on the school's roof. 

It took longer than expected for Chie to arrive with Kanji, and by the embarrassed look on Chie's face, Nanako easily figured out why. She felt bad for interrupting Kanji's lunch date, but it was a necessary evil. They all needed to know what had transpired last night. 

She informed them all as objectively as possible about the tofu shop incident, although afterward there wasn't much to be discussed. Rise was safe, the kidnapper thwarted, but who was to say he wouldn't try again? 

"It's supposed to rain tonight," Yosuke informed the group. "Somehow I doubt the Midnight Channel will be any different."

"We have no idea what the killer's connection is to it," Nanako said, "So... yeah, we'll find out tonight, I suppose." It'd be another night with little sleep. She wasn't looking forward to it.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Chie asked, sounding more than a little frustrated.

"We need to decide what to do about the TV World," Yukiko said. "I thought about it the last time we went training. Without... without Teddie, someone's going to have to go in there every so often and check up on things."

Nanako gave it some thought. "Maybe once a week we should get together and go in," she suggested. "Maybe we'll do some training, or maybe we'll just look around and try to find anything that's different. You're right. I hate to leave that place alone, even if no one's been put inside. We never bothered to explore too far from the dungeons. Teddie said it was empty space, but I feel like there has to be something more."

"Red tiled floor," Yosuke murmured, and Nanako gave him a sharp look. He remembered it too, then—that misty place they'd found when they'd run away from Teddie that very first time.

Where was that, and why couldn't Teddie find it again? She wondered if someone had been thrown into the TV even before she'd come to Inaba. Or... maybe it was the killer's dungeon.

"You need to see Kubo's dungeon," Yukiko said, interrupting her thoughts, "and we need to see that secret base."

"I haven't been in there in a while," Yosuke added. "Since, well..."

"Yeah," said Nanako. "We're all a bit rusty, to be completely honest. We learned a few things about how our Persona abilities work, but there's always more to learn. The more we understand what we can and can't do, the greater advantage we'll have. We definitely need to go in there more often. Should we make it like every Saturday, or something?"

"Saturdays aren't always good for me," Yukiko said. "The weekends are our busiest days at the inn."

"Same," Yosuke said. "I'm often scheduled weekend shifts. But if I know in advance, I can make sure to have time off."

Nanako drummed her fingers against her thigh. Saturday was her preferred day since school was only a half-day. It would give them plenty of time to be in the TV World. Wait, fuck. Saturday was her daycare part-time job! She couldn't miss that. She sighed. "Maybe it doesn't have to be the same day every week. We'll figure something out. I just... I want us to be prepared."

"We understand that, Senpai," Kanji said, "but maybe we don't always have to all go in together. We could work in pairs instead. Nanako-senpai, you and me went in once without anyone else, and it was fine." 

"That's way too risky!" Chie shook her head vigorously. "Not to mention a little crazy."

"Are you saying you didn't like our 'girls day out' trip to the bathhouse?" Nanako teased, trying to ignore the 'crazy' part of her friend's words.

"We need to take some risks," Yukiko argued, "if we expect to keep saving the victims. Now that Teddie's no longer with us, we haven't much choice." She paused, the ghost of a smile coming to her face, before adding, "And... we could use some crazy."

"Hopefully there won't be any more victims," Nanako said, allowing herself to be optimistic for a moment. "But I'm fine with that plan. As long as any pair that goes into the TV lets a third party outside know what they're doing, I'm okay with it. And I promise... I'll follow that rule, too. I know I haven't been the best example, but it won't happen again."

She felt Yosuke's cool gaze on her as he sized up her sincerity. Finally, he nodded his agreement. "I'd be a good third party," he said, "since it wouldn't be strange for me to be around Junes. It's too bad there isn't a way to communicate from the TV to the outside world in case of emergencies."

"I wonder," Nanako mused, thinking that there might be a few more things that she and Naoto could test. She looked around the group. "Do we all agree?"

Chie had been the only one against it, and she sighed now. "I guess it is hard to get everyone together. But... let's at least make sure that we always report to each other about what we've done in there, all right?"

"No more secrets," Nanako said. "And with that decided... I feel like we haven't really celebrated Rise being saved. It's a huge victory for us, y'know?"

"It is," Yosuke said. "I'm glad you guys were able to manage to convince her to get out of town like that. Imagine if she'd stayed... We'd be camping out at that tofu shop. I can't even eat tofu. It'd be like a nightmare."

"How sad," said Nanako. "I was gonna suggest we should celebrate... with tofu!"

Yukiko chuckled. "The ganmodoki at Marukyu is to die for!"

"So I've heard!"

"Please, no!" Yosuke groaned.

The group snickered for a bit, and then Nanako said, "In all seriousness, if the killer is sneaking into tofu shops and scuffling with cops, then we must really have him on the ropes."

"We've come a long way since we started this," Yukiko agreed. "Despite the losses."

* * *

Aunt Seta received a text message early in the evening from Adachi. He was once again canceling his plans to visit for dinner. Nanako didn't blame him. Possibly he was catching up on his sleep (if so, she envied him), but more likely he was still being questioned from every angle imaginable by his fellow officers in an attempt to glean the one clue that would be the key to identifying the killer. Naoto'd had to endure much the same after his kidnapping. 

Speaking of Naoto, he still hadn't returned home. Nanako texted him, and he was still at the station. _Make sure you eat something,_ she sent him before putting her phone away.

As a result, it was going to be another quiet family evening. Aunt Seta and Nanako spent the time playing Snakes and Ladders with Souji until everyone won the game at least once. 

Aunt Seta put Souji to bed with only a small push from Nanako to read him a bedtime story. While she was away, Nanako hid the remote control under the tea table because they needed to talk.

Nanako didn't want to bring up the tofu shop incident—she'd let Adachi tell that story—although Aunt Seta had probably heard about it already through the grapevine at work. Then again, she worked somewhere past Okina, so maybe it wasn't news at all out there.

Regardless, Nanako had other things weighing on her mind. The discussion with her friends about the TV World reminded her of it, and by now she was due. Very due.

"Aunt Seta...?" Nanako began after the woman had settled herself down on the couch.

"Yes, dear?" 

"I need to visit Mr. Morooka!" 

Nanako hadn't meant to blurt it out like that—she'd planned to build up to her request slowly by talking about how important the teacher had been to her, but...

But simply thinking about him still hurt. It was why she had to pay her respects to him, and sooner rather than later.

"I don't want to go alone," Nanako continued quietly. "I was hoping that... that you would come with."

"Of course we can," Aunt Seta said. "I know which graveyard he was placed in. I looked it up the last time you asked."

"There's more than one graveyard in Inaba?" Nanako was surprised, but it was just another sign that the small town wasn't quite as small as she'd once believed. "And... thanks." She hesitated. "Aunt Seta... When was his wake?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know."

Nanako nibbled her lower lip, peeling some skin off. What was sadder? That he might not have had a wake, or that he'd had one and no one went to it?

"I'm glad you've come to me about this," Aunt Seta remarked. "There was a time when you wouldn't. That time you skipped school," she added when Nanako said nothing.

"Which time?" Nanako asked meekly. It was all a blur to her now, but she suspected Aunt Seta wasn't talking about the day Mr. Morooka died.

"The first time. I remember it was raining that day. I believe it was the first day of summer. Anyway, I'd been called by the school and told that you'd left class to use the restroom and hadn't returned. I came home to find you here taking a bath."

Now Nanako remembered. The first day of summer—those school uniforms had been too much for her, and she'd left school worried about perving out on all of her friends. And when Aunt Seta had asked if she'd wanted to talk about it, Nanako had declined.

The funny thing was... Nanako probably could have talked to Aunt Seta about it. 

"You are full of mysteries, Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta remarked, "and sometimes I can figure them without your father's help. But even when I do, I'm not always sure what to do about them. You didn't come with a manual."

She chuckled lightly, and Nanako realized that last bit was meant to be taken as a joke.

"You know, I thought I knew everything about the kind of person you were," Nanako confessed, "but on that day I saw you with your hair down, and... you're more complex than I'd thought."

"Is that a compliment?" 

"Yes," Nanako said emphatically. "I didn't expect you'd leave work just because I'd skipped school." 

"Now that isn't a compliment."

"It's definitely not," Nanako agreed. "But by doing that, you took me completely by surprise."

She paused, her fingers toying with the grain of the tea table. There was a nice smooth groove here, hollowed out by years of people idly rubbing it, just like this. She wondered vaguely if Souji contributed to it. 

"Auntie," she began without looking up. "That day... I was a bit homesick. But that's only part of it. That's just what I told my friends. The main thing was... Everyone just looked too hot in their summer uniforms. I couldn't handle it!"

Aunt Seta raised her head in surprise, but not as much surprise as, say, Eri Minami would display. She seemed more surprised at her sudden honesty than by the contents of her words, or at least that's how it looked to Nanako. 

Then Aunt Seta smiled. "They say only boys have hormones," she said, "but nothing could be farther from the truth."

"Exactly!"

"And you are at that age, after all."

Nanako laughed. "You say that as if it'll change when I grow up. That's not true, is it?"

The woman seemed to be considering her answer. "It's not," she finally admitted. 

"'You are what you are,'" Nanako quoted. She paused. It was Izaya who had told her that...

"Yes, but don't use that as an excuse," Aunt Seta warned. 

Nanako promised she wouldn't, and they sat in amiable silence for a moment until Nanako broke it to return to an earlier topic. "So, uhh, when can we visit... the graveyard?"

"This weekend?" 

"You're free?" Nanako didn't mean to sound so incredulous, but her aunt hadn't even bothered to take out her day planner.

Aunt Seta waved a hand as if it wasn't important. "I'm overdue to visit the graveyard myself."

Another silence followed, one that felt heavier to Nanako than to her aunt.

"Uncle Seta...?" Nanako whispered.

Aunt Seta nodded. "We'll make a family day of it. Is that all right?"

* * *

[9/15: Thursday]

"To think a week ago we were in the big city," Yukiko remarked with a long sigh.

"You miss it?" Nanako asked.

The two girls were sitting side-by-side on a bench at the central shopping district. Nanako had seen Yukiko there waiting for the bus and decided to join her. The rain was drizzling steadily down around them—enough so that they needed to keep their umbrellas up, but not so much that they needed to take shelter from it.

Nanako decided she liked the rain. Maybe not as much as Izaya, who she suspected was watching her right now from somewhere behind the gas pumps, but she liked how it seemed to quiet the world around her. It gave her a sense of privacy even though they were in a public place. The only people outside in it were the people who needed to be out. 

Though the Midnight Channel aired when it rained, so maybe it wasn't all good. Fortunately, Nanako had awoken this morning to a text from Yosuke that reported Rise wasn't showing up on there anymore. It had been just a blank yellow screen, which meant that maybe they could relax.

"I don't think we were there long enough for me to miss it," Yukiko answered. "But I did enjoy the experience, and I learned a lot."

Nanako recalled the notebook Yukiko had written so much in. "Are you going to turn the Amagi Inn into a love hotel?" she joked.

"And what if I did?" Yukiko challenged, her tone full of sudden fire.

"I'd be okay with that," Nanako said quickly, almost putting up her arms defensively.

Yukiko's shoulders relaxed. "I'm sorry. Chie said the same thing, and when I tried to tell her how love hotels serve an important purpose, well... she began to explain that it was just a joke."

"Are you two still fighting?"

"Oh, no." Yukiko began to shake her head. "We're doing a lot better now, actually! Chie is so careful to get my input on things, it's rather amusing."

"That's good to hear," Nanako said. 

"But sometimes I get the feeling that she's afraid I'm going to leave her."

"Have you given more thought to going to college?" Nanako asked. "I'm saying this because it's going to be an important decision for both of you. I don't know what Chie plans to do with her life, like if she'll go to college too."

"I have thought about college," Yukiko said, "but I haven't talked to Chie about it. You see, when we stayed at that refurbished love hotel, I spoke with the manager."

Nanako blinked, because she couldn't recall a time when Yukiko could have done so. Though now that she thought about, there had been some time before they'd left on the very last day. Nanako's memory was a bit fuzzy; the clearest thing she could remember from that day was the massive hangover Igor's brandy had given her!

"She was so normal," Yukiko went on, "she could have been my mother. She had the hotel refurbished because there are so many love hotels on Shirakawa Boulevard already that the competition had become too fierce. There'd also been an incident a few years ago that helped to turn customers away. She wasn't getting enough business as a love hotel, so she had to take a risk. She decided that an ordinary hotel in that area of the city isn't ordinary at all, and she hopes that will be a draw for customers. She told me that since the change, she now mostly gets business agents who book several rooms at once for conferences. Honestly, it's not that different from my family's inn!"

"I'm glad you made a connection," Nanako said, for lack of anything else to say.

"It got me thinking: what if there's actually a demand for a love hotel in Inaba?"

"People right now probably go way past Okina for that."

"Exactly!" Yukiko said. "I've heard over and over again that the walls are too thin at my family's inn."

"The true traditional Japanese inn experience," Nanako said, nodding. "Sex in a floor futon."

Yukiko snorted, nearly dropping her umbrella as giggles overtook her. "M-my mother is always so mortified when people complain about it, too!" Her shoulders heaved, but she was able to keep herself mostly composed. "But it's perfectly natural, isn't it? Couples go on vacation to reconnect with each other, and sex is a part of that. My mother put up some signs around the inn to ask people to consider that there are other guests, but that's not a solution at all, is it?"

"If anything," Nanako said, "they might be excited by the thrill of having someone overhear."

"It's possible!" Yukiko agreed. "People do like to test the limits of what's proper and not." 

Nanako and Yukiko stared at each other briefly, then started laughing. Nanako stopped first, noticing that she hadn't heard Yukiko laugh like this before—not her mad giggles, but a raspy, snorty laughter that lasted a much shorter time. She smiled at the sound.

"I don't think I will actually do it," Yukiko eventually said. "Turn the Amagi Inn into a love hotel, that is." Then, after a second, she added: "I may consider opening one elsewhere, however."

Nanako was happy for her. "You go, girl."

Yukiko nodded. "I know you'll be there to help me, if I do it. Chie has improved, but in the end... well, you're the friend I can be myself the most with."

Nanako blinked in surprise. That was an unexpected compliment, and she made sure to smile to show how much it meant to her, but inwardly, she sighed. It was just... all her friends trusted her so much. She didn't think she was worth that trust in the first place, which was one thing, but the real problem was that she could never bring herself to trust them nearly as much, most of the time.

...But maybe that didn't matter. _Just look at how happy Yukiko is!_ she told herself. The least she could do was be there for them, and listen.

* * *

[9/16: Friday]

Dragging Saki behind her, Nanako kicked open the door to the music room.

"Nanako, what—" Saki began, but Nanako tugged on her hand, pulling her into the room and then all the way to the piano bench. She sat Saki down on the seat and took the spot right beside her. She wrapped an arm around Saki's back and squeezed her close.

"Senpai," Nanako murmured against her shoulder. "I promised to play for you over summer break, and it's over, so..."

Saki shrugged, and Nanako almost bit her tongue because the motion snapped her jaw up suddenly. "It's not like the school was open during break."

"Oh, we were gonna break in."

"Really?" Saki purred. "That could have been fun."

"Yeah, but you know we wouldn't have gotten any piano playing in," Nanako said, grinning.

"Now I wish we really had broken in!" Saki was grinning back at her. "Though it might've been dangerous."

Nanako shook her head by pivoting it on her girlfriend's shoulder. "C'mon, Senpai, this isn't Gekkoukan with its hundred night guards. The groundskeeper is so old he looks like he could die at any given moment."

"You're right. We'd give him a heart attack. I can't be responsible for that."

Nanako chuckled, but then sighed. "Maybe it's for the best. I played with Yosuke and Ayane-chan just a few days ago, and I'm really rusty."

"Oh, yeah," Saki said, sounding as if she was reminded of something. "I have seen those two practicing by the river. I wonder... are they dating?"

"I wonder, too, Senpai!" If Ayane had changed her hair at Yosuke's suggestion, did that mean something...? "But I don't wanna make any assumptions. Neither of them would appreciate that."

"A nice, girl-next-door type would be good for Hana-chan."

"It's the type he'd go for," Nanako mused. "But a healthy friendship would be good for him, too. And he might try to set a good example for her, since he's her senpai and all."

"I suppose I should set a better example for you," Saki said. "But somehow I don't feel up to it." 

"You're still better than Yosuke," Nanako said. She paused, then waved a hand. "What are we even wasting time talking about Yosuke for? That wasn't the point of bringing you here!"

Nanako shifted on the bench and lifted the piano's fall board, exposing the keys. She ran her fingers over the keys lightly, not pressing them.

"Though actually," she muttered, "this was supposed to be his moment."

"Oh?" said Saki.

Nanako nodded. "I'm done messing with the piano. It's as fixed as it's going to be." Without her input, her fingers began to play a light jazzy piece. "Well," she went on, "as fixed as it'll be without me actually joining the club and convincing that asshole of a club captain that it needs professional attention."

While she played, Nanako felt Saki move behind her on the bench. Arms carefully draped themselves around her stomach, trying not to interfere with her playing. She felt a weight at her back as Saki rested her head there. "This is a nice song," Saki murmured.

"Oh," Nanako said, her fingers pausing only for a moment as she stared at the keys. "My mom taught me this one."

"I like it," Saki said, "though I'd probably like anything you played for me."

"Saki-senpai, you know..." Nanako said. "I've changed a lot this year, ever since coming here. I told my mom it was all for the better, but I'm not sure that's true. I have too many regrets to count, even though I told another friend that I took the path with the least of them."

She paused, enjoying the feel of Saki's breath warming a spot on the back of her blouse.

"But," she continued, "one thing I definitely don't regret is becoming friends with you."

"Aww," Saki murmured. The rumble from Saki's chest made Nanako blush, but she kept playing, pretending to ignore how close the girl was.

Nanako continued, "I really don't know how my parents are gonna react to the new me."

Saki didn't reply—she didn't know Nanako's parents enough to offer any opinion. Nanako was all right with that, and it was silent for a while; the only sounds were their breathing, her piano playing, and the patter of the steady rain outside the school.

The piece she was playing trailed off, and she withdrew her hands from the keyboard, finding Saki's around her waist and holding them. "Senpai..." she started, hesitating a moment. "When I go back to Tokyo, to face my family and my old friends, I'd like you to come with."

"Mmm?" Saki vocalized. "Like on a trip?"

"No," Nanako replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The piano piece Nanako played is [this track from Revelations: Persona.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJCE_3RO3Bo)
> 
> Next Chapter: Cats and Dogs but not Men
> 
> You can learn a lot from a 6-year-old.


	46. Cats and Dogs but not Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every day brings Nanako closer to her family.

[9/17: Saturday]

Nanako followed Aunt Seta down the dirt path. Her aunt carried a bucket of water that she'd filled at the temple's water pump. Nanako had offered to carry it for her, but the woman had simply shaken her head. It was her burden.

Souji was silent next to Nanako as they walked. He was wearing his best clothes, including a dark gray vest, and that only emphasized his solemn demeanor. Nanako held his hand. In fact, she'd been holding it since the car ride that had brought them here. He squeezed her fingers sometimes, as if she needed the support more than he did. 

He might not be wrong, at that.

The graveyard was an old one situated atop a hill, housing generations of departed Inaba residents. Some of the signs around the graveyard were illegible, not because the writing had been worn over time, although that was true, but because the language was too archaic to be understood. Many of the gravestones were taller than she was, and as densely packed as they were, she felt almost like she was lost in a stone jungle as she followed her aunt.

They passed several gravestones, some better-tended than others, before Aunt Seta stopped at a particular plot. It was a family grave, the name 'Seta' carved into the stone pillar. 

A framed picture of Sachio Seta was sitting in front of the stone.

Nanako stared at it. The only other picture she'd seen of him had been the one Adachi had shown her. Souji took after his dad so much.

Speaking of Souji, Nanako noticed then that he was staring at the picture too. How long had it been since he'd seen a picture of his father? She recalled all of a sudden how Souji had admitted he was afraid of forgetting his father's face.

So focused on the picture, he wasn't blinking. It made her want to pull him into a hug, but then Aunt Seta moved the picture off to the side, and with it no longer in sight, Souji was left blinking, suddenly free of his trance. 

Now Aunt Seta set the bucket down right by the gravestone, dipped a sponge in the water, and began to clean the monument. To Nanako's relief, the plot seemed to be well-tended. Sachio Seta hadn't been unpopular, or perhaps Aunt Seta visited more often than Nanako knew. She wondered if Adachi-san visited him, and how often.

The gravestone only needed to be washed because the recent rain had scattered dirt all over it. Oh, and some wild birds had decided to add their own decorations to it. Nanako volunteered to take care of that, since she felt the need to do something other than simply watch her aunt work, and Aunt Seta gave her the okay. While they worked on that, Souji replaced the wilted star anise flowers in the gravestone's built-in vase with some fresh ones. After that, Aunt Seta asked him to fill the water basin with fresh water, and he did so without a word. 

When the gravestone was cleaned, Aunt Seta set incense into the holder and burned it. She resettled the framed photograph in front of the gravestone, then took Souji by the shoulders and pointed him towards it, murmuring that they should pray now. Souji, however, became fixated on the picture of his father and wouldn't close his eyes until his mother nudged his head down into bowing. 

Nanako shouldn't have witnessed that, by all rights, because she should've had her head bowed as well. She remedied that now and silently wished her uncle well.

"All right," Aunt Seta said, breaking the ensuing silence. Her voice was... raw, dry from either emotion or lack of use. "We'll visit your teacher now."

Nanako nodded and picked up the wash bucket, for it was her burden this time. Souji was still looking at the picture, and Nanako decided she didn't have the heart to pull him away. "Souji," she said quietly. "If you'd like, you can wait for us here. We'll be back soon."

"Yes," Souji said in an unexpectedly strong and clear voice.

Even Aunt Seta seemed taken aback by this, but a moment later she motioned for Nanako to follow her. 

Morooka's gravestone was a new one, and by the wooden memorial board, he was the only one interred there. There was leftover incense in the holder, and right next to it was...

A metal bracelet. Nanako inspected it without touching it, noting how the metal had been shaped into interlocking strands.

'Intricate,' she recalled.

It didn't take long for her to clean the gravestone. Aunt Seta helped by sweeping the dirt away from the base. When they were done, Nanako took a step back and bowed her head.

What did she want to say to Mr. Morooka? She thought for a second that she could come up with a haiku but dismissed it as disrespectful.

In the end, she simply told him, "Thanks."

The ensuing silence was broken by Aunt Seta. "When you went missing after his death..."

Nanako jerked her head up to look at her. 

"I didn't know anything about it until your mother called me. She said you weren't answering her calls or texts, which she said wasn't like you. She'd heard the news about your teacher and was worried about your reaction." 

"With good reason," Nanako murmured.

"Indeed," Aunt Seta agreed. "It was the first time she'd ever called me, and from that, I knew the situation was serious. I promised her I'd look into it, and then called the school and I found out that you'd left class. You weren't at home, either, so I called my brother for advice, and... Honestly, I did not expect him to drive all the way here on such short notice. He was very afraid for you."

Nanako wanted to apologize for that, but couldn't find any words.

Aunt Seta continued, "He searched for you all night in that pouring rain. He wasn't alone, by the way. Naoto-kun came around the house, and Kanji-kun trailed behind, looking a little like a lost puppy." Aunt Seta smiled briefly. "He didn't know where you lived, or the number to the house, but he still wanted to help, you see. Both of them did."

"Kanji-kun is a sweetie," Nanako murmured. "I knew Shirogane-san met Dad then, but... I didn't know..."

"When he couldn't find you," Aunt Seta went on, "Ryotaro was almost crushed. It was the most vulnerable I'd seen him in years." She paused, a reminiscent smile coming to her face. "The last time had been when he was a groom."

Nanako smiled sadly, too, remembering the pictures her aunt had shown her of that wedding day.

"He is such a grown man," Aunt Seta remarked. "Always was, but... you'd be surprised by how vulnerable his eyes were, like he was a little boy all over again."

"Do you mean when he was married, or when he was looking for me?" Nanako asked.

"When he couldn't find you," Aunt Seta answered. "Instead of letting out his frustration on me, as I could tell he wanted to, we ended up hugging. It was... Well, I hope to never experience his fear that night. It was a great relief that Saki-chan managed to find you in the morning."

"I... I'm sorry," Nanako finally managed. "I didn't... I didn't want anyone to worry about me like that. But I hadn't been thinking at all, and..."

Aunt Seta shook her head. "Don't apologize, Nanako-chan. You were not at fault in any way." 

She paused. Around them, the wind picked up, and the wooden memorial boards from the graves nearby clacked together in their racks as if they were whispering to one another. 

"Before everything happened," Aunt Seta finally went on, "I'd sometimes wonder why Ryotaro sent you here. I knew part of it had to do with the case he's currently working on. He did not want you exposed to any of it. But you were such a bright, inquisitive girl... Nothing seemed to faze you, least of all the serial murders, which you had an unhealthy interest in, even."

Nanako blinked, surprised that her aunt had noticed.

"When you went missing," Aunt Seta continued, "we thought the worst. Ryotaro said you'd always liked to play detective, and with a murder having occurred just the previous day, what else could it be? I only realized later, that despite appearances, you're quite sensitive. You even sensed..." 

She trailed off, looking back the way they'd come. Towards Souji.

* * *

[9/18: Sunday]

It was a bright, sunny day at Inaba's flood plain. 

"And left jab, and then... kick!"

Chie was really getting into the role of personal trainer. Nanako, Souji, and Naoto were as synchronized as they could be while they followed her instructions. 

"Naoto-kun, you need to roll your shoulder into the punch," Chie said. She demonstrated, pulling her arm back just a little before letting it strike in a forward punch. "You see? Now try it."

Naoto's face was the visage of concentration as he followed Chie's example and threw a punch into the air. 

"Good," said Chie. "Again!"

"Again...?" Naoto murmured. He nodded in determination and followed up with another air punch, and then another, and then another, and then...

"That's good, that's good!" Chie began to laugh. "You can stop now. I think it's time we work with our left hands!"

While they were repeating the drills, a bicycle bell began to sound nearby. So focused on following Chie's instruction, they all ignored it. It began to become insistent, however, ringing more and more furiously to get their attention. And then the bell gave up and there was a honk so loud that Souji nearly fell over in surprise.

"Stop it!" Chie snapped, turning towards the source of the sound, but then she flinched back. "Wh-wha... Yukiko?"

Nanako, still holding Souji to help him remain upright, looked at the newcomer and found it wasn't a bicyclist at all. Yukiko was sitting proudly on a brand new scooter, a red helmet in her hands. 

More important perhaps than the scooter was Yukiko's wardrobe. Instead of her light red sweater, she was wearing a red vest over a blouse, and instead of a skirt, she had on a pair of black slacks. The long black hair that Nanako envied was tied back into a bun.

"When did you get a scooter?" Chie demanded. "Don't you need a license?"

"It wasn't difficult to get," Yukiko said. "It only took a few days of studying the manual."

"You... didn't tell me..." 

"It was a whim," Yukiko said, "but I'm glad I went with it. There's so much freedom in not having to use the bus to get home!"

"I bet," Nanako said. Although she'd recovered from her shock much sooner than Chie, she was still reeling, because Yukiko looked damn fine and badass to boot. "You can get across town real fast with that."

Yukiko nodded her head. "If there's an emergency, I can respond in a flash."

"A flash of fire, even," Nanako said absently. 

"Yes!" Yukiko giggled.

"But what's with those clothes?" Chie asked before the giggles could become untamed. 

"Since we're training," Yukiko replied, "I thought I should dress the part! Without the skirt, I don't have to worry so much about, well, propriety. And the vest makes me feel like a different person."

"You should try the long skirt," Nanako said, pulling up her own skirt to demonstrate and then letting it fall back down. "It's long enough so no one can look under it. And it would go well with the scooter! Though it'd be even better if you had a motorcycle."

"I always wear shorts under my skirt," Chie said. "I've never had a problem."

"Motorcycles, a long skirt..." Naoto mused. "Are you aiming to start a gang, Nanako-san?"

"Of course not, Shirogane-san."

"Good—"

"I already have one, why would I start another?"

Naoto blinked only once. "Ah, yes. The 'DEATH Squad.' I'm not sure how to feel about being a member of this inscrutable group. My reputation is surely in jeopardy."

"Can't become worse than my own," Nanako said positively.

"Maybe one day the yakuza will really be after you," Yukiko agreed. "Oooh, that sounds exciting!"

"D-don't jinx her," Chie said, following it with a nervous laugh.

They continued to joke around, and then Nanako felt Souji tugging on her skirt. "Big sis," he said quietly while he continued to tug for her attention. "C-can I...?"

"What, honey?" she murmured back, brushing fingers through his hair. 

He pulled away, and it took Nanako just a moment to realize he wanted to take a closer look at Yukiko's scooter. She followed him, protective instincts in full swing, though she knew he wouldn't be any trouble. In fact, he stopped a few feet away from the scooter, too bashful to ask if he could approach any closer. Yukiko noticed him and smiled. She got off the scooter, hung the helmet on the handlebars by its chinstrap, and then beckoned him forward.

It was a nice scooter, as far as Nanako could tell. It had a white body and its seat cushions were a red that matched the helmet. Although its engine was turned off, the pungent smell of burning gasoline lingered. 

"It's sleek," Nanako commented.

"My mother helped pick it out for me," Yukiko said, "though she wondered why I wanted it."

"You know," Nanako mused. "A while ago, Yosuke wanted a scooter, but I talked him out of it."

"Yosuke-kun with a scooter," Yukiko said thoughtfully. "That sounds dangerous."

"I know, right?"

Yukiko knelt in front of Souji to meet his height. "Souji-kun, would you like to ride it? It's all right," she added when Nanako seemed about to protest. "He won't get hurt."

"N-no thank you," Souji murmured. "It's... t-tall..."

It was the elephant slide all over again, apparently. Nanako put her hands on her hips. "If Yosuke had one, he'd ride it."

"Yeah," said Chie. "He'd ride it right into the river."

Yukiko sighed dramatically. "Yes, that's right. When I said 'that sounds dangerous,' I meant to himself."

Knowing they were making fun of his friend, Souji looked a little put out. Nanako tousled his hair and gave him a soft smile, and a moment later she suddenly found herself being hugged by him.

"Aww, well that's just cute," Chie remarked at the sight. "Oh, that reminds me! Isn't the elementary school having a field trip this week?"

Nanako looked up from cuddling Souji to send Chie an alarmed look. "What?"

"Yeah! Umm, I don't know the details, but they're going to be visiting our school. Maybe we'll see this little guy during it." 

"Sou-chan, do you know anything about this?" 

"It's Thursday," he said. 

"Wouldn't it be cool if Souji-kun's class is assigned to visit our class?" Chie said.

"Yeah!" Nanako agreed. She could show Souji the music room and the piano, the gym, the rooftop where they sometimes ate lunch... It'd be totally fun. And maybe he could bring Foxie along, too!

Excited, she picked Souji up right then and there and heaved him onto her shoulders. His cry of surprise quickly turned into a series of giggles.

"Now you're higher than the scooter," she teased.

He didn't comment on that, instead choosing to play with her hair. 

"Well, I suppose that's it for training, huh?" Chie said, scratching her head.

"Chie, that's what I came here for!" Yukiko protested. "These new clothes serve a purpose. Please, show me what you're up to while I'm busy at the inn!"

Chie's face flushed with apprehension. "W-well, I..." she stuttered.

"You were teaching Shirogane-san to punch," Nanako said. "Why don't you show Yukiko that?"

"I am ready to demonstrate," Naoto said evenly, already moving into the proper stance.

"Well, all right," Chie said. "First, you need to learn to make the right kind of fist. Though it might feel more natural, don't put your thumb inside the fist!"

As Chie went on about proper punching technique, Nanako smiled to herself and lightly squeezed Souji's legs. They were a great team, weren't they?

* * *

[9/20: Tuesday]

Since Monday was Respect for the Aged day, Nanako had invited her friends to spend it eating tofu at Grandma Kujikawa's shop, much to Yosuke's distress. It wasn't until Tuesday, then, that Yukiko surprised the heck out of everyone at school by wearing a boy's school uniform. 

Nanako expected someone to complain. She'd been hassled enough for simply wearing the long skirt, and that wasn't against the rules. Wearing the wrong gender's clothes would definitely attract administrative attention. It was going to be a disaster.

But during homeroom, Ms. Kashiwagi only glanced at Yukiko once and didn't say a word about it. 

"It's because her grades are so good," Chie told Nanako later when she remarked about it. "She's under the radar. You know how she's missed school a few times because she needed to help the inn? The teachers never bother her for that, either."

It was totally unfair, but Nanako couldn't deny that her grades could use some work. At least their next exams were over a month away. There was plenty of time!

A month away. A lot could happen in a month. With that looming over her mind, Nanako headed right home after class, deciding it might be a good time to look over her notes for the term so far. She'd already forgotten what venison was at this point.

She was at the tea table in the living room, brushing up on trigonometric identities, when Souji came home from cram school. "Big sis, big sis!" he cried upon opening the front door. He rushed forward so fast that he nearly tripped over his own feet. "I f-finished it!"

"Careful, careful!" she said while pushing herself to her feet. "Finished what?"

He held out a crocheted thing about the size of her own hand. It was made entirely of brown yarn, making it appear like nothing more than a misshapen blob. She turned it over in her hands and then she finally realized it was supposed to be a dinosaur. A flying one, at that! One of its wings was longer than the other, and its head was smaller than its neck. It was no wonder the dinosaurs went extinct if they were proportioned like this.

But he'd tried, and that's all that mattered. "Can we show it to..." He trailed off.

"Kanji-kun?" she guessed, and he nodded. She nodded back—Kanji would at least be able to tell him how good his stitching was—and his face positively glowed. 

They headed right out, though Nanako made sure Souji brought the Loveline umbrella along since it was cloudy out. The weather forecast hadn't included rain, but it hadn't been completely reliable lately. It was better to be safe than sorry, and Souji was so happy to carry it along with his crocheted dinosaur that it was worth bringing along even if it had been completely sunny outside.

In the textiles shop, Kanji was sitting on the raised floor, his legs stretched out in front of him onto the lower level. He wasn't working on anything, just apparently relaxing while he chatted with Yosuke next to him.

Wait, Yosuke? Nanako almost did a double-take. What was he doing here? The textiles shop was the last place she expected to see him.

"Finally," Yosuke said, noticing her. "I was wondering what was so—"

"Partner!" Souji cried, running up to him. 

Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "Uhh... Hello, Souji." He sent a questioning look at Nanako over the boy's head.

Souji shyly offered up his crochet creation. Yosuke gingerly picked it up and held it out so that Kanji could see it too.

"You finished it!" Kanji enthused. "Good job, li'l guy. You'll be a pro in no time!"

"Oh, you made this, huh?" Yosuke said. "I, uh, like its... eyes?" It sounded so much like a question that Nanako had to suppress a chuckle.

Souji smiled widely in response to this praise. When Yosuke tried to hand the crocheted thing back to him, Souji wouldn't take it.

"I guess it's yours now, 'partner,'" Nanako said. "Cherish it always."

"Sure...? Thanks, Souji." Yosuke sounded gracious enough. It fooled Souji, anyway. He stuffed it into his pocket and turned to Nanako. "So what's the urgent business you needed me here for?"

"Urgent business?" Nanako didn't hide her puzzlement. "I'm only here because Souji asked to see Kanji-kun."

"But Saki-senpai said..." Yosuke's brow furrowed. He paused, shook his head, then started again. "See, I went in for my shift at work, and she told me she was going to take it since I needed to be here. Urgent business."

Nanako thought it over for a moment before grinning. "I think you got pranked, Yosuke!"

"If she needs the hours, she can take all my shifts," Yosuke said. "She didn't need to make me come here, though."

Souji had climbed up to the upper level to sit next to Yosuke. He was now smiling up at his friend and mimicking his sitting pose, with his arms crossed and his legs slightly bent.

_Yes, she did,_ Nanako thought.

"While you're here," Kanji said, "maybe you can learn to crochet."

"Nahhh," Yosuke replied. "What with guitar practice, I don't really have the time for another hobby."

"Bring your guitar on Thursday," Nanako requested suddenly. "We can play for Souji's class!"

"That would be really embarrassing," Yosuke protested, but he had on a shy smile which meant he wasn't opposed to the idea.

"Do you know what you wanna make next?" Kanji asked Souji. "Come on, I'll let you pick out the colors you wanna use."

He stood up, took Souji by the hand, and led him into the back room. Yosuke also stood up, but Nanako waved him back before he followed along. "Actually, Yosuke," she said when she was sure that Souji was out of hearing range. "It's not 'urgent business' or anything, but are you working Friday?"

"On the holiday? Probably. But maybe I can switch with Saki-senpai again."

"Holiday? What holiday?" She gave him a funny look. "We just had a holiday!"

"It's the Autumnal Equinox."

"Whatever that means," she muttered. "That one always trips me up. Well, anyway, I'm thinking it's time we went into the TV. It's too late today, and I got stuff going on tomorrow, and who knows what Thursday's going to be like."

"If I'm off, I'm game," he said. "Wait a second, what's this?"

Yosuke toed something on the floor of the upper level. It rolled right off the ledge. Nanako picked it up. "Oh, it's just Souji's umbrella," she said.

"Are you sure?" He sounded skeptical. "It's pink."

"The best color," she declared, shaking the umbrella at him as if it was an extension of her finger. "And of course I'm sure. I gave it to him, after all. It's his Wand of Justice."

"His what? Nevermind, I don't think I want to know."

Nanako grinned, more to herself than anything. She needed to bring Yosuke over to Aunt Seta's sometime so that Souji could play games with him. She'd have to think of a dumb title for him to go with it.

"Now I really don't want to know," Yosuke said, noting her grin. "Oh, they're back."

The door to the back room slid open and Kanji and Souji stepped through. The little boy was carrying a basket of crochet-related goodies, mostly a few spools of yarn. They walked to where the others were, and Kanji helped Souji down to the lower level. 

"I gave him some simple patterns to use," Kanji said. "They're in the basket, at the bottom. He should know all the stitches needed for them, but if he's got any problems, you bring him right over and we'll sort it all out."

"Thanks, Kanji-kun!" Nanako traded Souji the basket for the Loveline umbrella, said goodbye to both of her friends, and led Souji out of the shop.

Nanako almost whistled because she was feeling pretty good, but the urge died when they passed the shrine Kanji and his mother had built for Teddie. 

She stopped walking so that she could pay her respects to it. She set the basket down at a respectable distance away, then approached the shrine, noting that someone, probably Kanji, had replaced the flowers recently. 

The star mask was still present on top of the shrine, and she stared at it for a long moment. She no longer felt the stirring within her that she once had from it.

After paying her respects to the shrine, she thanked Souji for waiting for her, picked up the basket, and then continued on her way.

* * *

[9/21: Wednesday]

Nanako was so excited for Souji's field trip that she totally forgot it was Wednesday until she came home to the strong scent of freshly chopped onions. Aunt Seta was preparing a home-cooked meal in the kitchen. By the thin strips of chicken and onions on the cutting board and eggs in a bowl nearby, it was going to be oyakodon. Nanako's mouth watered at the thought.

Souji was at the tea table, apparently working on his next crochet project, something that currently looked like a green blob. Nanako reserved her judgment for now. Naoto was sitting across from him, keeping him company. Nanako joined them and she made some small talk. She was a little nervous about Adachi coming over. The last time had been so long ago, and he'd shown her that incriminating video. If he talked about the tofu shop incident at all tonight, she had to be sure not to seem too excited or give away that she knew anything!

That is, if he was even going to show up. He'd been skipping out on these family Wednesday nights so often lately that Nanako had her doubts about the status of the Adachi-Seta courtship. 

A knock on the door threw those doubts to the wind. Aunt Seta answered the door, and after exchanging pleasantries, Adachi was welcomed into the house. Today the cabbage detective was wearing a magenta tie with his suit. It looked sharp on him! If only he had a matching flower in his breast pocket.

Aunt Seta informed him that her dinner wasn't quite ready, and he nodded politely at her before moving into the living room. He inclined his head at Naoto. "Shirogane-kun," he greeted.

"Ah, yes," said Aunt Seta from the kitchen. "He'll be joining us for dinner. I hope you don't mind."

"The more, the merrier," Adachi replied. "Besides, I know he lives here. You should be asking him if it's okay to have me around!"

"Of course it's quite all right, Adachi-san," Naoto said. "You are a guest here as much as I am."

"As long as you don't talk business," Nanako quipped. 

"Yeah, no," said Adachi, shaking his head. "Uhh, what's that?"

Souji was holding up his crochet project by the crochet needles, trying to show it to him. "It's a dinosaur," he murmured. It was as much a mess of yarn as it had been earlier in the afternoon, which meant it was still completely unidentifiable.

"Show him the one you finished," Nanako suggested. "Oh, right, you gave that to someone."

"He has that, err, other... one," Naoto said. Halfway through that sentence he'd turned hesitant, probably regretting his words.

Souji's eyes lit up, and he put his current project down to run into his room. Moments later he came out with the egg-shaped Teddie doll he'd made some time ago and gave it to the detective.

Adachi turned it over in his hands... over and over again, trying to figure out what the heck it was. 

"It's very round," he said finally. 

He was saved from coming up with more faint praise by Aunt Seta announcing that dinner was served. They relocated to the dining room. The table was a bit crowded with five of them—an extra chair had to be brought out from a closet—but it definitely felt more alive with so many people there!

Or it would have felt more alive, if two of the group weren't overworked detectives. Both Adachi and Naoto ate almost mechanically, as if they were being forced to by their worried coworkers. "Psst! Taste your food!" Nanako hissed, and both of them looked up, startled. "Auntie worked hard on that!"

Adachi grinned sheepishly. "Y-yeah. Sorry, Ryoko-san. After bento for lunch and nimono for dinner every day, I almost forgot what good food tastes like!"

"Nimono for dinner every day?" Aunt Seta raised an eyebrow. "That sounds very much like torture."

"I wonder if I can arrest the fossil who keeps making it for me," Adachi agreed. "She's got me confused with her son. Seems we share the same given name." He shoveled a portion of chicken into his mouth and made a dramatic 'mmm' sound. "This is way better than nimono. Heck, it's even better than any of that 'gourmet tofu' Kujikawa-san shoveled down my throat."

"Oh, don't let her hear you saying that," Aunt Seta warned. "That old lady is quite the pistol."

More like a Gatling cannon, Nanako almost corrected. She resisted the grin that tried to come to her face at the memory of that awesome granny.

"I have a feeling if I don't check up on her after a while, she'll have my ass," Adachi said.

"That's assuming she'd want it." Aunt Seta 'hmhmhm'd after that.

Adachi pretended to look offended, and then announced ruefully, "You got me there!"

After everyone had finished dinner and the dishes had been cleared from the table, Aunt Seta invited Adachi to stay a while and relax, and he accepted with a shrug and a 'why not?' She leveled only one complaint about an annoying coworker before continuing on to talk about how Souji was doing in school.

"You're making your mama proud, huh?" Adachi asked the boy rhetorically. "Keep it up, but don't forget to have fun."

Aunt Seta waved a hand. "Oh, Nanako-chan makes sure of that."

Adachi glanced in her direction. "I'm sure she does."

"And Shirogane-san, too!" Nanako added quickly.

At that, Adachi appraised Naoto. "Huh, I wasn't aware that Shirogane-kun knew what fun was. You learn something new every day."

"Big bro..." Souji began, but he stopped. Everyone looked at him and waited expectantly for him to continue. "Big bro... bought me Featherman manga."

Adachi's eyes danced, and his grin was mischievous. "Is that so..."

"Souji-kun watches the show faithfully," Naoto said rather stiffly, "but the manga is superior in every way. I couldn't let him miss out."

"I knew you were a nerd!" Adachi declared, slapping the table to emphasize his victory.

"Souji-kun will be raised correctly under my watch." Naoto tipped his cap.

"He'll become a little nerd, too." Adachi sighed dramatically. "I suppose there are worse things he could be."

"Since you mentioned it," Aunt Seta began hesitantly. When everyone turned their heads towards her, she appeared embarrassed. "Well, I was quite a nerd in my day..."

"A photography nerd," Nanako said.

Aunt Seta grew a tight smile. "Indeed. Ah, give me a moment..."

She got up from the table and picked up a shoebox that had been stored in the kitchen's far corner. She set it on the table and opened it, sneezing once from the dust accumulated within it. She rummaged through it a moment before bringing out a photo album.

She hesitated again. "I brought these down from my closet to show Nanako-chan, but if you'd like..."

She was asking Adachi, who was blinking at her in astonishment. "Uhh..." he said before recovering. "Well, now I'm curious! What is it?"

Aunt Seta turned the album to face them. The cover was decorated in little bunny, duck, and heart stickers. She set it down on the table, and they gathered around it, Nanako getting out of her seat to crowd behind Souji's chair to get a closer look.

"No way," Nanako breathed. "Souji's baby pictures?"

"A mother's pride is her kid," Adachi remarked, looking interested despite himself.

There was a glint in Aunt Seta's eye that Nanako had never seen before. Nanako wasn't sure if it was caused by said pride, or because she was about to show these pictures to someone important to her.

Nanako gently pushed Souji out of his chair so that she could sit in it, pulling him into her lap after so that they could see album together as Aunt Seta opened it to the first page. The very first picture was a bald-headed baby with piercing silver eyes wrapped up in a soft yellow blanket. There was a date with the album. Nanako did some mental math, and...

"Right out of the hospital, huh?" Adachi said, beating her to the punch.

"They wouldn't let me bring the camera in the hospital," Aunt Seta said, "so I took as many pictures as I could when we brought him home."

"What, you mean there's no video of his birth?" Nanako pretended to be disappointed, making it clear that she was joking.

"None," Aunt Seta reported with feigned sadness. "There's no video of his conception, either." 

If Nanako had been drinking anything she'd have spit it all out right there. She hadn't expect that Dojima sense of humor in front of Adachi-san!

"Forgive me if I say 'Thank god for that.'" Adachi was shaking his head, and Aunt Seta and Nanako laughed with him.

She felt Souji shift in her lap. When she looked down, she saw him curiously mouthing the word 'conception.' Quickly she distracted him by pointing to the next picture. "Do you remember being this small, Sou-chan?"

Souji shook his head. 

"I remember it like yesterday," Aunt Seta volunteered. "I know there's a picture of his first steps here... Ah, there it is!"

Nanako eagerly leaned over Souji's head to look. Apparently the event had happened during a picnic at the flood plain. Little baby Souji was standing in one picture and flat on his butt in the next. He was grinning happily up at the camera, his fists grasping the grass growing around him.

"How precious," Naoto murmured. 

Nanako agreed. She didn't take her eyes off the album as Aunt Seta flipped to the next page. There were so many pictures! Here Souji was on the couch—it a different couch than the one in the house now, they must've bought a new one since then—here he was in a crib, here he was in Uncle Seta's arms, the adult wearing the alarmed expression that men everywhere wear when handling such a fragile and precious item. 

By the sheer amount of pictures, it was obvious they were proud parents. The album mostly went in chronological order. To see Souji as an infant, and then a toddler, and then a three-year-old, and then four...

The album ended there. "Is there another book?" Nanako asked, looking up at her aunt.

"Oh, no," Aunt Seta answered. "That's all I have."

No more? Considering the sheer volume of baby and early childhood pictures, it seemed strange that she hadn't taken any of Souji's first day of kindergarten, at least! 

Though, that would have been last year, and considering what had happened then... It was probably no coincidence that Aunt Seta had dropped her favorite pastime at the same time.

"I do have an empty photo album," Aunt Seta murmured. "Actually, I've been meaning to..."

She moved to the kitchen, opened a drawer, and pulled a cell phone out of it. She returned to her seat at the table and slid the phone across the table to Nanako.

"Souji," Aunt Seta said. "That's for you. I'm sure Nanako-chan can teach you how to use it."

"Mama?" Souji looked at her for confirmation before tentatively reaching out to it.

"It's one of my old work phones. It was replaced by a newer model last month, and they allowed us to keep the old one. It's inactive, but some of its functions still work, such as... its camera."

Souji was looking up at his mother in awe. "I can... it's mine?"

"Nanako-chan has my old camera," Aunt Seta said. "Perhaps you two can go have a shoot together."

"Your old camera?" Nanako repeated. She'd left Aunt Seta's camera on the kitchen counter after the field trip. Aunt Seta had never put it away, so it was still there. Nanako hadn't realized she was meant to continue using it. She nodded now with determination. "We'll fill that photo album up, and then some!"

She showed Souji how to unlock the phone's screen after Aunt Seta gave him the passcode. 

"Don't look now, but I think you've unleashed a monster," Adachi said. 

Nanako opened the phone app, helped Souji hold the phone up, and had him aim it right at Adachi. "Smile!"

The grin captured by Souji's new camera was more indulgent than anything. "You should've put it in selfie mode," Adachi said. "That would have been a better picture than little old me!"

Nanako decided it was a good idea and did just that. Now Souji had a picture of him and Nanako looking right at the phone's screen. Adachi was totally right—Souji's smile was so big!

"Thanks, Aunt Seta!" Nanako said with feeling. "We're going to have a lot of fun with this."

Naoto recommended that he not use the phone at school, and Souji promised he wouldn't. 

"Aww, but I want him to take pictures of his field trip to Yasogami High tomorrow!" Nanako brushed her fingers through Souji's hair while the boy continued to look at the phone's screen as it provided a live feed of its camera. He was aiming it at Adachi, who was pretending not to notice that he was being watched. Nanako pretended not to notice the funny faces he occasionally made.

"He might not be able to," Aunt Seta said, "but you..." She was smiling in a way reminiscent of Margaret. Or perhaps Igor. 

"They'd confiscate my camera for sure," Nanako protested. 

Aunt Seta's smile grew even more sly, if it was possible. "They won't."

* * *

[9/22: Thursday]

It started with an assembly. 

Of course it did. What the elementary school kids really needed most was the adults lecturing them about how educational their field trip was while they were on it.

Nanako hummed to herself, hardly listening. The visiting kindergarteners and first graders were sitting in neat little rows on the floor near the front of the high school's gym, right before the stage. The gym could hardly hold all the students, and in fact, for that reason Yasogami's third years weren't invited. Nanako and the other first and second year high schoolers were sitting in a large group behind the kids. She could see Souji easily from her place on the floor. Gray hair really stood out in the sea of black. 

According to Ms. Kashiwagi, the field trip had been inspired by the 'success' of their own trip to Gekkoukan High School. Why just the high school? some official must have thought. The elementary school and middle schools should participate in a cultural exchange as well!

A cultural exchange within the same town. It seemed a bit silly, but apparently there wasn't any funding to go with that official's decision, not to mention most parents wouldn't allow their young child to go out of town like the high schoolers had. 

Nanako blinked out of her daydreams about cuddling Souji because there was sudden movement in the front few rows of students. Apparently the assembly was over. She made to get up herself, but felt someone tugging her back down. It was Chie. Nanako sent her a puzzled look and Chie just rolled her shoulders as she held in a laugh.

"You need to pay more attention!" Chie whispered too loudly.

"What's going on?" Nanako whispered back.

"The kids are gonna do a presentation for us. We're supposed to just sit and watch. Look, it's Yuuta-kun's class!"

After a bit of searching, Nanako spotted Yuuta among his classmates as they filed onto the stage and were shuffled into place by their teacher. Yuuta was carrying a big rubber ball about the size of a watermelon. Some of the other kids carried other rubber balls, too, and each was a different color and size. It wasn't obvious what the purpose was until the teacher turned on a boom box that she'd set on the stage and the students began to sing along to the music it played.

_The planets,_  
_The planets,_  
_We're studying the planets,_  
_Mercury and Jupiter and Marrrrrs_

Well, it wasn't so much singing as mumbling along, but no one could deny it was cute. The kids carrying the rubber balls raised them excitedly when their planet was named in the song, which went on to describe the order from the sun and other solar system-related factoids that the high schoolers had already learned years ago.

"Wish our exams would be on this stuff," Yosuke muttered. "I'd pass for sure."

Nanako hushed him and tried her best not to wave at Yuuta, though she was almost bursting with excitement. The kids looked like they were having such a good time! What was Souji's class going to do? She could hardly wait. They didn't seem to have any props with them... No, they had rubber balls, too. Well, the assembly was taking place in the gym, where the Balls Club met, so she supposed it was appropriate. 

When the presentation was over, Yuuta's teacher directed her students to bow to the audience. There was polite applause from the collective high schoolers, and then Nanako leaped to her feet and hollered, "Great job, Yuu-chan! You're so talented! I always knew it!"

Yuuta stood there on the stage, looking much like she must have looked when she'd faced that giant robot in Naoto's dungeon. Then he shouted a "Don't call me that!" back at her before scurrying after his classmates and off the stage.

Then Souji's class stood up, and Nanako couldn't stop herself from waving furiously at her little cousin. Because she was still standing from her outburst, she was easily noticed, and an instant later Souji was waving back at her. Takeyoshi tried to interrupt, but Souji just nudged him, and soon both of the boys were waving at her. 

At least until Ms. Kashiwagi strode over from the sidelines where she and the other Yasogami High teachers had been standing. She glared at Nanako, who almost rolled her eyes. Ms. Kashiwagi's glare had nothing on Mr. Morooka, that was for sure. But Nanako's arm was getting tired of waving by then, so she sat down without a fight.

Souji's teacher switched the CD in the boom box, and then, like Yuuta's class, the students began to sing.

_We love the rain,_  
_We get all wet_  
_The sun comes out,_  
_It dries us up,_  
_Where does the water go?_

The teacher held up a neon orange ball that represented the sun, and the children held blue, gray, and white balls to represent water, clouds, and wind. The song went on to explain the basic rain cycle, with the kids sometimes losing their place in the song because their props and the actions they were supposed to perform with them were too distracting for them. 

When the song ended, the audience began to applaud, and Nanako was halfway to her feet again when she realized the students weren't actually done with their performance. The students put on plastic ponchos, except Souji who took out his Loveline umbrella and opened it up.

Souji said something to the audience, but it was basically inaudible because he was so soft-spoken. 

"That's my cousin," Nanako informed the student sitting in front of her. "The one with the incredible umbrella. My cousin."

The teacher had him repeat his words, since apparently she couldn't hear it either, and she was on the stage with him.

"That's my cousin, isn't he cute?" Nanako said to the male class representative, who nodded politely.

Souji opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it and shook his head. Takeyoshi stepped up and spoke for him: "He said IT'S RAINING CATS AND DOGS!"

All of the students on stage began to meow and bark at once in response. Twisting the umbrella in his hand, Souji meowed too.

Nanako leaned towards the girl next to her, and before she opened her mouth, Chie put a finger to her lips and said, "That's your cousin, we know."

Nanako pouted and then kissed Chie's finger, and Chie withdrew it as if it had been burned, glancing around as if afraid anyone had seen that. Yukiko just smiled and shook her head.

"He's adorable, anyway," Nanako muttered. "The best cousin. My only cousin. My darling baby boy."

"The light of your life, you love him so much?" Yosuke added.

Though she recognized that he was teasing her, she'd redirected her attention to the stage and was too focused on said light of her life to say anything other than, "Yep."

The boom box began to play the sound of falling rain. The children were now doing a very unchoreographed dance to this 'music.' It lasted for a few minutes too long, even by cute little cousin standards. When it was over, the kids once again faced the audience and bowed. 

When Nanako jumped to her feet to shout, "You're the cutest, Sou-chan!" she found she wasn't the only one standing—Yosuke was by her side, waving hard at Souji.

"I didn't know you had a soft spot for kids," Chie remarked when they'd both sat down again.

"Nanako's right. Souji is cute, okay?" Yosuke crossed his arms, and Nanako nodded firmly her agreement.

It took over an hour for the other classes to make their presentations, and then they had to suffer through another speech from the principal about how happy Yasogami High was to have hosted this event that helped nurture young minds blah blah...

When it was over, everyone pretty much stood up at once. Ms. Kashiwagi attempted to organize her homeroom class and lead them out of the gym. Nanako didn't follow, intending to slip away so that she could be with her cousin, but Ms. Kashiwagi caught her. However, Nanako had an ace up her sleeve. She produced her camera and the shiny, laminated press pass that Aunt Seta had let her borrow. It didn't have any real authority, but it looked official... official enough to bluff with.

"I gotta take pictures of those cuties," Nanako told her teacher. "It's for the yearbook!" When Ms. Kashiwagi looked suspicious, she waved the press pass and added, "And the newspaper! Y'know, for the 'Local Flavor' insert." 

Ms. Kashiwagi's expression changed. "Oh, well, in that case, you can take as many pictures as you want... as long as you take one good picture of me."

Nanako agreed, though she expected the woman to want her to take several outrageous pictures that would only suit someone half her age. It turned out, however, that Ms. Kashiwagi really wanted only just the one, although the woman made sure her assets were prominently displayed. Nanako took care to ensure it was tastefully done. 

Nanako took, in Naoto's words, 'a truly inappropriate' amount of pictures of all the little kiddies. Though her focus was Souji—she had a whole photo album to fill up, after all—she tried to give all of the children a chance to be in the spotlight. Considering Inaba's poor track record so far, who knew how many of them needed the attention? There weren't enough hours in the day to solve everyone's problems...

"Need anything, Captain?" 

She took her eyes from the lens to blink owlishly up at the towering form of Kou Ichijo. "Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked.

Kou shrugged. "The kids keep losing their balls, so..." 

It was then she noticed he was carrying a couple of the rubber balls the kids had been using in their presentations under his arms. "Well, Expert Ball Wrangler is your position on the team, after all." 

"Better than Expert Ball Mangler," Kou replied seamlessly. "Like Daisuke here."

"Oh?" Nanako raised her eyebrow, intrigued. She hadn't noticed that Kou's soccer friend had been recruited, too, but there he was in his teal PE tracksuit, the big neon sun ball in his hands. A couple of kids were trying to take it away from him.

"You headbutt a guy in the crotch one time," Daisuke complained, "and they never let you live it down." He lifted the rubber ball high over his head and the kids began to try and jump up to reach it.

She'd have to get the whole story sometime. For now, though, the teachers had made their decision to bring the kids back to the elementary school for an early dismissal day. Since that seemed pointless to Nanako, she asked that Souji be allowed to stay with her, and after a round of phone calls, Takeyoshi was allowed to stay under her supervision, too, as long as she brought the two boys to their cram school on time later in the afternoon.

After one last round of pictures and goodbyes to her new little friends, the students followed their teachers out of the gym to the parking lot where their buses awaited, and Nanako was left alone with Souji, Takeyoshi, Kou, and Daisuke. The sudden quiet in the gym was disorienting, but the sound of a ball bouncing brought her attention back to the present. "Ta-kun," she scolded, "you were supposed to give that back to your teacher."

"Actually, that basketball is one of ours," Kou said. "Pass it here, will you?"

Takeyoshi tossed the basketball to Kou after bouncing it twice on the floor. It was a perfect pass, and Souji went "Oh!" at the sight. Kou caught it easily, and then began to balance the ball on the tip of his index finger.

"You should show them your slick moves, Kou-kun!" Nanako suggested.

Daisuke snorted. "Slick moves? He doesn't have any."

"Not for the ball court, I suppose," Nanako remarked, raising both her eyebrows suggestively before realizing she needed to keep things G-rated when there were children present. She'd done worse in front of Souji, but Ta-kun was a relative innocent.

"Yeah?" said Kou, sounding indifferent. "I guess I could..."

"I bet you won't make the basket from here," Takeyoshi said, holding his hands behind his back and looking rather smug.

"Was I really just challenged by a 5-year-old?" Kou shook his head.

"I'm not 5," Takeyoshi retorted. "I'm 6 years, 9 months—"

"Ta-kun is older than me," Souji murmured. "And... I'll be seven next year."

"Next year?" Nanako repeated. "What... I missed your birthday this year? No... No way!" 

In her disappointment, she enveloped Souji in a tight hug. The boy accepted it with an embarrassed but happy smile, and then ended up cuddling Nanako back. 

Takeyoshi glanced at the two of them before returning his attention to Kou. Under that gaze, Kou looked at the ball in his hands, and then at the nearest basket. They were actually standing on one of the lines painted onto the court, which Nanako assumed meant it wasn't an impossible throw, but the basket did seem pretty darn far. 

Kou rolled his shoulders and then his neck in a stretch. Then he reared back and let the ball fly. It spun through the air, soaring towards its goal. 

It hit the backboard and then bounced to the far side of the gym.

Takeyoshi was grinning in the ensuing silence. Then Kou muttered, "I didn't think I'd make it..."

His whole stance screamed dejection. His shoulders drooped and even his purple-dyed hair seemed down. 

Now Takeyoshi frowned. "Hey," he said. "You were kind of close. You could try again."

"'Kind of close,'" Kou repeated. "I didn't even hit the net!"

"If at first you don't succeed," Takeyoshi said, "try, try again. That's what our teacher always says. In fact, Blue Swan said that on Featherman last week."

"She did, big sis!" Souji said, looking up at Nanako from where he was still enfolded in her arms. "It was right when they were—" Nanako gently hushed him, because Daisuke had retrieved the ball and handed it back to Kou.

Kou turned the ball over in his hands, apparently thinking. He looked at Takeyoshi, then at the basket. Without another moment's hesitation, he went for it.

The ball hit the basket's rim, bounced up and then teetered on the edge. Everyone held their breath as the ball seemed indecisive. 

Then it rolled inside.

Instead of cheering or shouting, Kou was just smiling at his victory. Takeyoshi held his hand up to him, and it took Kou just a moment to hand him a high five. 

"See?" said Takeyoshi. 

"Yeah," said Kou. "Thanks, kid. You're all right."

"Now it's Daisuke-kun's turn to show us some soccer moves!" Nanako said. She turned to Kou. "Ball Wrangler, got a soccer ball somewhere?"

"I think I'll pass on that," Daisuke said. He sent a scowl to his left, where a couple of girls were standing on the sidelines, watching them. Or rather, watching him.

"Daisuke-kun," one called. "W-would you like to umm... go to Aiya with us?"

"I already ate lunch!" Daisuke snapped back. He stomped after the basketball to retrieve it. It had rolled all the way to a far corner of the gym.

"Girl problems, huh?" Nanako remarked while he was out of earshot. "Is that why he's not into soccer anymore?"

Kou smiled, though there was no humor in it. "Maybe. It's always like this."

"You should..." Souji said slowly, looking up at Kou. "Umm, you should... Hug him, and stay like that for a while. Then the girls will leave him alone."

"Where did that idea come from, Sou-chan?" Nanako asked.

"Saki-san said you did that with her, big sis... and then the boys left her alone."

Nanako blinked hard, her brow knitting together until it clicked. "Wait, Senpai told you about that!?" she exclaimed. That had been ages ago, in that club in Okina. Huh, that must have left a strong impression on her... Nanako began to grin.

Kou scratched his head. "Uhh, you know, little guy, not everyone is like that."

Nanako let the grin drop to send Kou an unamused look.

He held up his hands defensively. "Okay so, maybe I do love, err, balls, but I'm not sure what Daisuke would think."

"I think he'd thank you," Nanako said.

Kou nibbled his lip while he considered it. "Well, it's true he never liked girls."

Takeyoshi spoke up. "I saw in a documentary that homosexuals are born this way, rather than an acquired condition."

"I thought you were six!" Kou said, incredulous. 

"Just kiss him, Kou," Nanako said. "There he is now."

Daisuke was jogging back towards them, the basketball under his arm. One of the girls called after him, "If not lunch, what about dinner?"

"I guess I have nothing to lose," Kou said with a sigh. When Daisuke opened his mouth to retort to the girl, Kou stepped towards him and planted a quick peck to his cheek.

The girls gasped as one.

Daisuke was frowning now. He looked at the girls, then at Kou, who was obviously sweating, and then at the girls again.

Then he tossed the basketball aside, grabbed Kou and pulled him into rough but firm kiss right on the lips.

The expectant hush that followed was punctuated by the sound of the basketball's bounces.

Then the girls burst into cheers:  
"Oh my god!"  
"He didn't!"  
"He did!"  
"Holy shit!"

When Daisuke let go of his partner, Kou shook his head, glanced at the cheering girls, and then looked askance at Souji. "Well, that didn't work."

"What didn't work?" Daisuke grumbled. "Whatever, let's grab some lunch." He took Kou by the hand and led him out of the gym, the hysterical girls quickly following them.

"I think it worked just fine," Nanako murmured in the ensuing silence, thinking that if it was a social link, it'd definitely be maxed right then and there. She shook her head to clear it and narrowed her eyes on a certain little boy. "Ta-kun! I bet you impress your teacher every day with your worldly knowledge."

"He does!" Souji exclaimed, twisting excitedly in Nanako's arms. "She's called his mama lots of times to.... t-tell her about it."

Takeyoshi looked put out after that. "Mom wouldn't let me watch TV for a week last time," he muttered.

"Did she set up parental controls, or did you find a way past them anyway?" Nanako teased. 

"Big sis," Souji said, "can we have lunch? Ta-kun's hungry."

"What?" said Takeyoshi. "I didn't say that!"

"Your stomach did. I heard it."

"Heh, I guess we should eat, huh?" 

Not wanting to cross a teacher by going into the classroom to grab her lunch box—everyone else was still in class, after all—Nanako took the boys to the nearest vending machine and bought a bento that they could all share. She led them to the rooftop, where she and her squad sometimes sat, though she had to help the boys up to their seats. She sat between them and opened the box after handing the boys each a set of chopsticks.

"So, Ta-kun," Nanako began conversationally. "How was your summer? You didn't come with us on our beach trip, and we missed you at the festival."

"That's because he was in Aus... er..." – Souji's face screwed up as he tried to say the word – "Aus... Auster..."

"Australia," Takeyoshi finished, pronouncing it flawlessly. "My great uncle lives there."

"Oh really?" said Nanako. "No wonder you're so worldly."

"Australia is home to the platypus, which is one of five existing mammal species that lay eggs," Takeyoshi recited.

"What are the other four?" Nanako asked.

Takeyoshi blinked, having not expected that question. "I don't know."

"Neither do I," Nanako admitted. "Maybe you can ask your cram school teacher this afternoon. Come on, now, let's eat up."

After they ate, Nanako took them to the music room. It was empty, as it always was when it wasn't in use by the club or the elective music class. Nanako set the boys on a couple of chairs and then sat at the piano bench. She idly brushed her fingers over the keys. They were almost gleaming; she and Yosuke had done a great job cleaning them. 

She'd already picked out a song for this event, and had even found the sheet music for it, though she'd never played it yet. It was going to be fun.

"Ta-kun, let's see if you know this song!" she challenged. 

Without further ado, she began to play. It was, of course, 'The Love Detective,' one of the opening theme songs to Magical Detective Loveline.

The little gasp that Souji emitted when he recognized it was so cute, it almost distracted her from playing. 

"Oh, I know this," said Takeyoshi. "But I don't watch that—huh?"

Souji had stood up and was tugging Takeyoshi out of his seat, too. Souji then began to dance and sing to the music, mimicking some of the moves from the video that went with it, or so Nanako assumed, it was difficult to tell. Takeyoshi stared for a moment before smiling and beginning to dance too, though he didn't know any of the words so he didn't attempt to sing.

Nanako cursed her inability to simultaneously play piano and take pictures. It was just too precious. Her little Hermit child, not so Hermit-like at all anymore! 

And Souji had the folded up Loveline umbrella with him, too, the perfect prop. He waved it around—it was his Wand of Justice, after all—and hit Takeyoshi with it on accident, though there was no damage done. Takeyoshi snatched it from him in apparent retaliation, and Nanako's playing slowed as she watched, worried, but Takeyoshi just twirled it around in his hands before handing it right back to Souji. Nanako smiled and continued on playing. They were both good kids.

"I'm Miss Loveline, you'd better beware!"

After playing the last few notes, Nanako clapped so hard that her hands almost hurt. "Bravo! I think you both have a stage career ahead of you."

Takeyoshi was glowing from the compliment despite himself. 

"Big sis, can you dance in space?" Souji asked.

"I don't see why not, Sou-chan!" Nanako answered. "But why space?"

"Because Ta-kun wants to be an astronaut and go into space."

"No, I don't!" Takeyoshi interjected. "Not anymore."

Souji's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Wha... you didn't tell me! Big sis, he didn't tell me..."

"I wanna be a diver," Takeyoshi announced, "and see all the fish in the Great Barrier Reef! I wanna swim with the sharks."

"You might... get bitten," Souji remarked.

"Nah, most sharks only attack when provoked. I won't provoke. I just want to look at them, and watch them eat!"

"That sounds exciting, Ta-kun," Nanako said. "And the Great Barrier Reef is right by Australia. You got that idea on your trip, huh?"

Takeyoshi didn't answer, for he had turned back to his friend. "Souji, what do you want to be when you grow up?" 

Souji's lips puckered. It wasn't exactly a frown, but close to it. He stared down at the umbrella in Takeyoshi's hand, but didn't answer.

Nanako decided to rescue him. "You can be anything you want, Sou-chan! And you don't have to decide right now, and you can change your mind anytime. Just like your favorite color."

The little boy continued to think. After over a minute, he said, "I don't know," and Nanako was satisfied enough with that. At least he hadn't said 'doctor' or 'lawyer' or anything else his mom wanted. Not that those were bad occupations, but they weren't for everyone, and Souji was only six, anyway!

"Hey, Sou-chan," she said as an idea came to her. "Wanna try out the piano?"

Souji perked up, his eyes sparkling. "Can I...?"

It couldn't hurt the poor old piano. She motioned Souji over and lifted him into her lap, then scooted the bench closer to the keys. Souji stared reverently at them, then slowly moved his hand out towards them, then drew back to look up at Nanako's face to make sure it was okay. Nanako smiled down at him and put her own fingers on the keys. She tapped them playfully on the surface, then pressed one key hard enough for it to sound out. She encouraged him to do the same.

He pressed the same key that she had and smiled to himself when it sounded out. Growing bolder now, he pressed the key next to it, and then the one next to that. Finally, he leaned forward and pressed one of the black keys. It was one of the sharps.

"Here," Nanako said, and she held his hand as she played a short little ditty. It was, in fact, the tune to Junes's infamous commercials.

As if he'd been called, the door to music room opened and an out-of-breath Yosuke rushed in. He was lugging his guitar case, and he stopped halfway into the room to pant loudly. "Y-you're still here!" he gasped.

"What, did something happen?" Nanako asked, alarmed. She ignored Souji's cute little cry of 'partner!'

Yosuke shook his head. "No, I just... didn't want to miss you guys. I finally found a chance to sneak out of class. Hey there, little guy!" He waved at Souji who was still in Nanako's lap. "Oh, and your friend." He nodded at Takeyoshi. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Oh, right, I told you to come here." Nanako had totally forgotten that she'd requested that he bring his guitar today. "That's Takeyoshi-kun. He sits next to Sou-chan in class, and they go to cram school together."

"Yeah, I know about you," Yosuke said. "You want to be an astronaut."

Takeyoshi crossed his arms and pouted. "I do not!"

"Sou-chan told you about Ta-kun?" Nanako said. "That's so cute."

"I've seen him before," Yosuke explained. "You know, over summer, when he and Souji were walking to cram school."

"I was wondering who you were," Takeyoshi said, regarding Yosuke with suspicion. 

"It's p-partner," Souji said, as if that explained everything.

"What's that mean?"

"He's my friend." Souji said it so solemnly, like it was an immutable fact.

Takeyoshi sent Souji a querying look, and then his expression softened. "Okay." He inclined his head towards Yosuke. "Nice to meet you."

Yosuke wiped his forehead with the hand that wasn't holding his guitar case. "Felt like I just met the in-laws or something." He chuckled, then unlocked the case and brought out his guitar. He strummed it and listened, then nodded his satisfaction. "What are we going to play, Nanako?"

"Why don't you play something for us?" she suggested.

"I thought we were going to play together." Yosuke hummed thoughtfully. "I guess... no... well..." He shifted the guitar into a better position. A moment later, he smiled determinedly and began to play.

Nanako smiled too, recognizing the song pretty fast from just the first few seconds of play. She couldn't name it, but it was something foreign, a country song. Wait, didn't it have lyrics?

"Sing!" Nanako requested. "Sing!"

"No way." Yosuke shook his head emphatically. "It's Western."

"So?" she challenged.

He stopped playing to send her a hard look. "I am not going to sing in English!" 

"It's just me and the kids. I won't make fun of you, I promise." Nanako whispered into Souji's ear, "Come on, you tell him too!"

"I heard that," Yosuke informed her. "All right, all right. You kids put on a show for me today, so... I guess I'll put one on for you."

Despite his reservations, Yosuke seemed to get pretty into it. He straightened his back, lifted his guitar, and restarted the song. " _I keep a close watch on this heart of mine..._ " he sang softly.

He played on, his head bobbing in time to the beat he'd set with his foot tapping the ground. He started off sounding rather self-conscious, but as he continued on, his voice became stronger.

"What does it mean, big sis?" Souji whispered.

"Knowing Yosuke is a hopeless romantic, it's probably about a girl or something," Nanako replied. "Ask him when he's done!"

Yosuke stopped singing rather abruptly, though he continued to play the tune on his guitar. He admitted that he only knew the first stanza by heart. He'd been more interested in the tune than the lyrics, and he'd replayed the first stanza several times just to practice. "I'm still a beginner, you know," he murmured.

"Everyone has to start somewhere," Nanako said. She wasn't judging him at all. 

Suddenly the dismissal bell rang, startling everyone present. 

"Ah, crap." Nanako sighed. She set Souji down on the floor and reluctantly got to her feet. "I guess I gotta bring these two to their cram school now."

"We didn't get to play anything together." Yosuke sounded more disappointed than she'd expected. "I don't know the next time Souji will have a chance to hear us play."

"I'll find a way," Nanako promised. "I'm sure he wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Don't forget me!" Takeyoshi threw in rather fiercely. "I-I want to be there."

"And Yuu-chan, too," Nanako said. "Maybe we can have the music club play for the elementary school, or something."

"I dunno about that," Yosuke said. "I mean, our club leader is..."

"Grand theft piano isn't above me," Nanako answered. "Anyway, we'd better head off. Say goodbye to Yosuke, Sou-chan!"

Souji walked over to Yosuke, who was bent over a little in the chair as he carefully put his guitar back in its case. Yosuke paused to send him a smile.

Then Souji hugged him around the waist. 

"Aww," Yosuke protested, "you didn't have to do that, little guy. I didn't even finish the song." 

After an awkward moment, Yosuke finally patted the boy's back. Souji wasn't ready to break the hug, though, and not to be outdone, Takeyoshi strode up to them and hugged Souji from behind. Takeyoshi was a larger kid, so it was easy to do. 

And also adorable to see. Nanako snapped a picture, happiness welling in her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Yes Please
> 
> The crossover no one asked for.


	47. Yes, Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink is a color of the rainbow.

[9/23: Friday]

The entire DEATH Squad was gathered at the TV World's backlot, despite the discussion they'd previously had about not always having to go in together. Nanako suspected that no one wanted to go in, and she didn't blame them. For one, the fog seemed thicker than normal. She wanted to believe that it was just because it was a bright and sunny day outside in the real world—Teddie had once said the fog here was related to the real world's weather—but she suspected that had nothing to do with it.

"It's almost as thick as the fog in the morning," Chie remarked while looking around.

"What do you mean?" Nanako asked.

"It's thick," Chie repeated. "Like... you can't see in front of you. I've almost had to cancel my jogging before school. By the time it goes away, I gotta be on my way to school."

"Is that normal?"

"Not at all. It's never been like this in all the years I've lived here. Right Yukiko?"

Yukiko was playing with her glasses, putting them on and then taking them off again. "I don't think it was this foggy when we first started coming in here," she said, apparently not having heard Chie's question. "I wonder what's causing it. I remember being able to see at least to the other side of the stage without my glasses, but now I can't see anything."

Nanako shivered unconsciously. She tested her vision the same way as Yukiko, and it turned out that without the special glasses, she couldn't see more than maybe four feet out in front of her. 

It was quite distracting to have such clear vision with the glasses on and see the thick fog swirling beyond them. Since the glasses were now irreplaceable, they'd have to be very careful not to break them. Nanako made a note to buy some of those straps designed to be worn around the neck and protect glasses from accidentally falling to the floor.

"It's giving me chills, though it's not cold or anything," Chie said, rubbing her arms anyway.

"Yeah..." said Nanako distractedly. "Shirogane-san, what did you do with those samples of fog I gave you?"

"Despite the double-sealed container, the fog ended up evaporating," Naoto reported. "Vexing, to say the least."

"Freaky," said Yosuke. He tossed one of his knives into the air and caught it by the handle, stumbling only a little. "What's the plan, Nanako?"

"An upgrade," she answered. She began to hand out gear she'd purchased from Daidara's. Previously she'd considered giving Yosuke the thief knife, but in the end, she'd decided to keep it strapped to her thigh for emergencies. 

As it turned out, her friends had visited the blacksmith on their own. Apparently old man Daidara wasn't against modifying Naoto's gun, despite the questionable legality of it, but when Naoto had visited, he hadn't the materials to do anything with it.

"Well, maybe we'll find something he can use for his 'art' today," Nanako said. "I thought we'd go through Shirogane-san's dungeon. The Shadows there are probably going to be pretty tough. We don't have to go very far. I mean, it's the first time we've all fought together."

"We won't know anything about these enemies," Yukiko observed. "Unless you remember anything from when you were here."

Nanako shook her head. "Not really. Well, if it's too much for us, we'll visit Kubo's instead. We're all rusty and I'm not going to push it. Besides, I doubt we're gonna find anything of interest. I mean, Shirogane-san's been rescued already."

"The only thing at stake is my professional pride," Naoto said. "It is quite embarrassing to have created such a place."

Although he said that, when they arrived at the base, his excitement over how it resembled the set of his favorite TV show betrayed him. 

"The satellite appears to be one hundred percent accurate to scale!" he gushed. "It's incredible!"

"Buy the costumes at Croco Fur and we can film our own episodes," Yosuke commented. 

"I have written an episode of my own," Naoto admitted. "One in which Blue Swan invents a device that—err..." He stopped because he became self-conscious. "That is... we should be preparing ourselves for the fight ahead of us."

"It's too bad cameras won't work in here," Nanako said. "We could totally use our Personas for special effects."

"You're both nerds," Yosuke said, shaking his head.

"You're the one who suggested costumes!" Chie pointed out. 

"I know." Now Yosuke was grinning. "And I'd wear one of them if Nanako got them for us."

"You sure?" Nanako said. "The spandex leaves little to the imagination."

"I've nothing to hide," Yosuke said. "Besides, it's nothing you ladies haven't seen before. Remember the bathhouse?"

"I'll pay not to see that again," Chie said, splaying her fingers over her eyes in emphasis.

"Don't be such a prude, Chie," Yukiko said. "It wasn't all bad."

"I'm afraid to ask," said Naoto. "Though I do wish to visit this bathhouse and the other dungeons. It can wait, however. Shall we go inside?"

Naoto went up to the base's huge metal door, marveling at how well-made it was while it opened before him.

"I must bring a screwdriver the next time we visit," he mused, eyeing the control box on the inside. "I wonder if I can discover how it works."

"Total nerd," Yosuke repeated, though there wasn't any malice in his tone. "Next thing we'll know, you'll be trying to dismantle one of those giant robot Shadows."

"Don't tempt me," Naoto murmured in reply. He sighed and turned away from the control box. "Let's get a move on."

Around the first corner, they ran into their first group of Shadows. They'd talked about strategy earlier. The plan was to be systematic: one after another, Chie, Yukiko, Yosuke, and Kanji would use their elemental abilities in order to determine the Shadow's weakness. If nothing worked, Nanako would attack with her naginata. Regardless of what happened, Naoto would record the results in a notebook.

Of course, battles never went as planned. The Shadows morphed into a mixed set: two hableries and two giant lumps of rock. And a damned angel statue! Nanako remembered that pain-in-the-ass from her sneaking mission. She called her friends to attack it first.

With the hableries flying at their faces, though, they were too slow. The statue split open like a closet door and emitted its blue fog. Chie fell to her knees, her strength sapped. She was unable to bring out her Persona to use an ice attack like they'd planned.

Fortunately, Yukiko had successfully fanned the fog away so it hadn't affected her. She summoned her Persona and brought down flames on all of the enemies, but to everyone's surprise, the damned hableries just stuck their massive tongues out further than they already were, and suddenly the fire was reflected right back at Yukiko! She wasn't down, though, since fire never did much to her. It was just the principle of the thing! Were those damned tongue-balls grinning?

Yosuke's wind was next, cutting through the enemies and knocking over the rocks as if they were only feathers. With a war cry, Kanji slammed into one with his tower shield while it was down, destroying it instantly. 

The other one, however, righted itself, and then exploded.

Kanji was slammed into the wall by its impact, and Yosuke knocked off his feet. Nanako flew right into the statue that she'd been preparing to attack. Her unprotected head knocked against its hard surface, making her see stars. She didn't know what happened to the rest of her friends, but her body was screaming in pain. That had hurt!

With a growl, she swung her naginata at the statue, but the impact hurt her wrists more than it hurt the enemy. It was as if the Shadow was actually made of stone. Its face sneered at her, and then the statue opened up again. She tried to hold her breath so that the blue fog wouldn't do anything to her—it was worth a try, at least—but found herself feeling sluggish, regardless. 

The statue moved towards her, apparently planning to impale her with its sharp edges. She tried to call on a Persona, but with her mind so foggy, they all seemed so far away. Though she was able to form a card, she had no strength to break it.

Before the statue managed to strike her, a circular purple sigil made of light suddenly surrounded it. Now the statue was no longer sneering. In fact, its expression looked quite horrified in the seconds before the sigil glowed. Moments later the Shadow dissipated into nothing but dust.

Nanako lurched forward as her strength returned to her. These status ailments were always so disorienting! She felt like she wanted to throw up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yukiko comforting Chie, who was also nauseous. To her relief, the others seemed to be all right. Kanji was leaning on his shield, but no worse for the wear, and Yosuke was fussing over him, wondering if he needed a Diarama.

"That one seemed to be weak against Sukuna-Hikona's dark skills," Naoto remarked. "I suppose we'll need to take that into consideration."

Nanako sighed so heavily that her whole body shook. "Yeah. I wonder if we should move you to the front, because when that works, it's really effective. Then when it doesn't, the rest of us will jump right in. But..." She paused, looking at Yukiko. "Those tongue-balls reflected your fire. I'd hate to see a Shadow reflect Shirogane-san's skills."

"My Persona is resistant to both light and dark," Naoto said. "It's not impossible for such skills to affect me, but the probability is low. Compound that with the likelihood of a Shadow reflecting it, I think we should take our chances."

Not scared at all, are you? Nanako thought with a faint smile. They didn't have much choice, though. A Shadow's weaknesses could only be determined by trial and error. 

After Nanako made sure everyone was up-to-date with their battle plan, they continued on through several floors of the dungeon, defeating at least a dozen groups of Shadows on the way. Some of them they cut through like butter, but it wasn't always that easy. By the time Nanako called a rest, they'd all worked up a healthy sweat, and Naoto had made a nice spread sheet of the different Shadows' strengths and weaknesses, though they were beginning to memorize these through repetition.

They took a break in one of the dungeon's pretend control rooms, since there were comfortable chairs in front of the consoles. Nanako divvied out sports drinks to everyone and slumped into one of the chairs. The momentum caused it to twirl on its axis.

While she was sipping her drink, she overheard the others chatting. Naoto was sitting at a console, apparently trying to make sense of the its colorful display of knobs, levers, and buttons. Yosuke leaned against the wall near him, his arms crossed and one leg bent against the wall. "Say, did Nanako ever tell you about our Shadows?" Yosuke asked.

"She didn't give me the details, no," Naoto answered. "May I assume that you're asking because you're curious about mine? My subconscious created this place, after all." He waved a hand to indicate their surroundings.

"Well, yeah," Yosuke said, "but I didn't want to ask if it wasn't, y'know, fair. It's not that our Shadows are taboo to talk about or anything, we just don't really talk about them. No one wants to have their dirty laundry aired out, so if you don't want to talk about yours, it's all right."

Naoto had a funny smile on his face now. "I wonder if you can figure out what mine was like. I'm aware that you don't know me very well just yet, but... Don't guess, I'd like you to think it over some."

"Huh," said Yosuke. He stood a little straighter against the wall and scratched his cheek. "Let's see... it probably talked about an insecurity you have. Maybe something to do with your age?"

"Go on," Naoto said.

"Well, I mean, you're way too young to be a full detective," Yosuke explained. "That's one problem, but there's also what your Shadow said on the Midnight Channel."

"Ah..." Naoto hesitated before continuing it with a soft, "yes."

Yosuke nodded. "Body modification, right? But I don't blame you at all." He paused. "I mean... anyone your height would want to be taller."

Nanako hid a snort by transforming it into a fake sneeze, and then focused her attention on the other side of the room. Kanji was buffing out a scratch on his tower shield, and Yukiko and Chie were watching him, but not really seeing him.

"I thought you'd be wearing shorts," Chie said.

"'Scuse me?" Kanji looked up from his work. "Don't think I've worn any since elementary school."

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"I don't have many pairs yet," Yukiko said. "I didn't want to dirty any of them."

"You could borrow some of mine," Chie said. "Oh, but we're not really the same build. They probably wouldn't fit."

"How sad," Yukiko said. "We could have been shorts twins."

"Wouldn't be as cute as the cutie pie twins," Kanji said.

"To be fair," said Chie, "I don't think anything can be."

You got that right, Nanako thought to herself. Aloud, she asked if everyone was ready to continue. "We can go back if you're tired. I'm still good, but this is Yosuke's first time here in over a month, so..." She stopped because Yosuke was shaking his head in an 'I can keep going' gesture.

"I'm good," Chie said, and Kanji just cracked his knuckles. 

Nanako nodded, picked up her weapon, and strode towards the door. She frowned down the hallway on the other side. "Teddie, did we go this way before—oh." 

As she was saying it, Nanako's brain had caught up to her mouth. 

No longer could Teddie keep a mental map for them. 

"Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

"Don't worry," said Yosuke. "I've been paying attention to where we've been. We came from there." He nodded at the door behind them at the far side of the room.

"I have been keeping a map," Naoto said. "Though I understand it might be difficult for you to decipher. My writing... isn't always the clearest."

"We can use the string again next time," Chie suggested. "I mean, it worked pretty well in the castle. Yosuke was able to follow it, remember?"

"Yeah," Nanako agreed, trying to ignore the bitterness within her.

Yukiko set a hand on her shoulder. "We all miss him, but we have to move on."

And move on they did, defeating floor after floor of Shadows. 

On one of the lower floors, they ran into a Shadow that looked like a man chained upside-down to a massive circular disk. The Shadow's arcana mask covered the writhing man's face. Naoto started out with a light skill, but the Shadow simply rolled out of the sigil's area of effect.

Chie followed up with ice, as per their plan, but the masked man just laughed creepily and the ice seemed to become absorbed into the disc. Yukiko's fire did the same. 

The enemy rolled on its disc, which had spikes all around its circumference. One of them caught Yosuke a glancing blow while he was trying to summon his Persona. Jiraiya still appeared, but its wind did nothing to the enemy.

"What the hell's its weakness?" Yosuke shouted.

Kanji glared hard at it while he summoned Take-Mikazuchi. The lightning ground itself into the Shadow, which just laughed once again.

Nanako charged towards it with her naginata. Halfway there, the enemy stopped laughing. All of a sudden, Nanako felt a change in pressure in the air around her, and when she looked up, intensely bright starlight rushed towards her. It struck her right in the face, knocking the wind out of her. She dropped her naginata and fell to the ground in a daze. 

Her eyes saw only stars, an aftereffect of that powerful attack. The clink of spikes rang out as they hit the metal floor—the Shadow was rolling towards her, intending to run her over! 

She struggled to pull herself up, but then there was a bang like a gong had been struck. She blinked her eyes, and soon enough they cleared to reveal Kanji on top of the Shadow beating the nonliving shit out of it. Moments later the Shadow dissolved into whatever Shadows dissolved into when they were defeated.

Kanji was panting triumphantly. He grinned at his friends around him and announced, "Its weakness was having its ass kicked!" 

"Good one, Kanji," Nanako said weakly.

She pulled herself to her feet, and after a quick healing song from Izanami, they were on their way again.

Eventually they found the big door that led to the boss room where Naoto's Shadow had once resided. Looking over her team, Nanako considered opening it, but knew there was probably a very strong Shadow living in there now.

"Let's go back," she decided. "We've done enough today."

"Are you sure?" Yosuke asked. "I am tired, but..."

"We'll come back some other time and take out whatever's in there," Nanako said. "We have school tomorrow, you know."

No one argued with her. They were all tired, and Nanako for one was tired of breathing in this fog. It was bothering the others, too, she could tell. The way they sucked in deep breaths of the fresh air when they were back at Junes...

Something was up in the TV World, but without Teddie, it was anyone's guess as to what.

* * *

[9/24: Saturday]

If only there was another holiday today, Nanako thought with a mental sigh. She was sore all over, and walking to school seemed like a chore. At least she had Naoto to share that misery with. 

Though honestly Naoto didn't look any worse for the wear than he normally did. The late nights he kept while poring over police files meant his tired appearance was his usual appearance. 

"I don't think we'll be training tomorrow," Nanako said conversationally while they were walking to school. "I think we deserve a break."

"I would welcome one," Naoto agreed.

Souji, holding Nanako's hand as they walked, looked up at her with sudden excitement. "Oh! Big sis, can...?"

Nanako looked down at him with amusement. "Yes, honey?"

"Can Ta-kun come over? Tomorrow?"

"If his mom will let him, sure!" Nanako had only planned to study, but if Souji wanted a friend over, well, that became Priority One. "Maybe we can bake something with him, or you can teach him how to crochet. If he comes over in the morning, we can watch our cartoons with him!"

"Yeah!"

They saw Souji off at his elementary school, and then Nanako and Naoto continued on their way to Yasogami High. Naoto informed her that the results of the forensic analysis of the tofu shop and related evidence had been released. 

"There isn't much to say," Naoto said. "The culprit wore gloves, and the tofu counter is wiped down upon closing every evening, so there were no unusual fingerprints. As for that diary entry we discovered among Kujikawa-san's accounts..."

"Yes?"

"It also contained no prints, but now we know where it came from. Adachi-san reports that the intruder had dropped it in their scuffle. Adachi-san had made a grab for it, and after a tug-of-war, the intruder pulled it away. A page must have been ripped out during that time and fallen to the floor. In the commotion, Adachi-san hadn't noticed it."

"He had been punched in the face, after all," Nanako said with a sympathetic nod. "And there were a bunch of dirty footprints over Kujikawa-san's accounts. It must have been a mess. I'm surprised Adachi-san didn't slip on one of those papers and fall on his ass!"

"He might have," Naoto said. "Do you remember how that stool had fallen over...?"

They had a few laughs at Adachi-san's expense until they reached the shoe lockers. It was as busy as always, full of students reluctant to be at school on a Saturday morning. While she was switching out her shoes, Nanako overheard some kids talking.

"Weren't those kids on Thursday so precious? I hope they come back again!"

"Well, if they get us out of class again, sure. But I had that planets song stuck in my head all day..."

"They were so cute!" the first student went on. "I wish I had a little brother or sister."

"That kid with the pink umbrella was something else," the second one agreed. "How he got stage fright, and that other kid had to speak up for him!"

That was my cousin! Nanako thought. 

"Yes, it was," Naoto said, smiling rather indulgently. Whoops, had she said that out loud? 

And so, they entered the school, Nanako almost lightheaded with pride.

* * *

"This is the place!" Nanako announced.

Ayane stood at her side in front of Uphairval in Okina City. 

Nanako had been totally surprised when Ayane had come to the second year hallway after school let out to find her. It turned out that she wanted to go to the hair salon! Nanako had almost given up that quest as a lost cause—but of course she was delighted to go with her.

The salon's logo in the window consisted of a swish of dark-colored hair wrapped around a pair of shearing scissors. The salon was just one part of the strip mall: to the left was a sweets shop, and to the right was a clothing store with a rack of dresses on display outside. It looked rather busy inside the salon.

"I can dye my hair myself," Yosuke muttered. 

Yosuke was there, too, and it was not the first time he'd said that today. He was such a party-pooper!

Nanako rolled her eyes and led them inside the salon. She went up to the front desk and signed them all in. She took a seat on one of the comfy leather chairs and grabbed a magazine from the short table. Ayane and Yosuke sat down with her while they awaited service.

Now that they were there, Yosuke seemed resigned to his fate. He glanced with suppressed interest at their surroundings—there were many glamorous posters of women with beautiful hair, and behind the counter were shelves with a wide array of hair care products—then he asked Ayane what she was going to have done.

"Just a professional shampoo, I think," Ayane answered. "My mom always buys this stuff that... well, it doesn't seem good for my hair, so I want to treat myself."

"What about you?" Yosuke asked Nanako.

Nanako was flipping through the magazine. The hottest fashions were totally not her style at all. She'd thought of getting her hair permed again, but eating her own hair was not her favorite past time. And she didn't want to be Saki's twin.

"That one looks good," Yosuke said, stopping Nanako from flipping to the next page by putting a finger in the way.

The style in question was a layered cut, which was nice enough, but needed more maintenance than Nanako was willing to give. "Nah," she said. "I'd rather not cut it. I want to let it grow out."

"It's already kinda long," he remarked.

"Oh, it can grow longer," Nanako assured him. "Before I cut it last year, it was right down to my butt!" 

She scooted forward in the chair and showed him where on her hip, possibly exaggerating it by a few inches, but it wasn't like he'd know. Sadly, the long skirt meant she wasn't showing her assets off very well—not that she hadn't already shown them off to Yosuke before, heh heh.

"I think I'll just do the same as Ayane-chan," she concluded. "But what do you want, Yosuke? You came all this way with us."

He gave her a mildly puzzled look. "You already know. I just want a touch up." He smoothed his fingers through his hair. "The roots really are starting to get bad. I just want it the same color, though, if that's what you're wondering."

"How about this color?" Nanako said. "It'd look so good on you!"

Yosuke stared flatly at the picture in the magazine she was pointing to. "Oh, come on. It's pink!"

"It's Souji-kun's favorite!"

"I like it, too," Ayane added mildly. "It's a good shade."

"Well, I don't know if it's actually Souji-kun's favorite," Nanako admitted, "but he definitely likes it." And it's his little friend's favorite, so that counts, right? she added in her mind.

"W-why would that even matter?" Yosuke demanded.

"You don't have to do the whole thing," Nanako said. "Just one streak?" 

"No," he said emphatically.

"One liiiittle streak?" she pleaded. "You can get rid of it if you don't like it."

"It would get everyone's attention," Ayane remarked. "Umm, that is, if you want that, Senpai."

"No," he said, and this time he crossed his arms. End of story.

Oh well. It had been worth a try. Nanako considered dyeing her own hair, but only for a second. She didn't need anything else drawing attention to herself, and it would probably have to be lightened by shades first. Dark hair was always so difficult to dye properly without resulting in breakage from the bleach. It was kind of amazing that Yosuke's light brown had turned out as well as it had, considering he'd dyed it all on his own. 

Soon enough an attendant approached them. Yosuke was led to a different part of the salon, since he wanted a different service, and Nanako and Ayane were together brought into the back, past the rows of people with their feet in wash basins getting pedicures, past the old ladies with their heads inside those big metal dryers getting their hair curled, and to a couple of empty salon chairs where they were invited to sit. 

"When I came here last," Nanako said, "they took me down that way instead." She waved a hand towards a doorway nearby while she got comfortable on the salon chair.

"W-what's back there?" Ayane asked. She seemed a little nervous, probably because she'd never been to a salon before, which was why Nanako was talking about something so unimportant. 

"Just more chairs. I think it's overflow. This place is the only hair salon in the mall, so it's pretty busy."

"I noticed!" Ayane said. "Do you think we'll be here long?"

"An hour, hour and a half, maybe. Two hours, tops. Don't worry, it'll be worth it!" 

To fill up time while they waited for service, Nanako began to relate her experience getting her hair permed. Ayane commented that it seemed like a lot of work, and Nanako agreed that it wasn't something she'd repeat any time soon.

"A nice wash will be fine today," Nanako concluded, grinning at the pair of attendants heading towards them.

A short time later, Nanako and Ayane were both reclined in their salon chairs, their hair being washed in the ceramic basins behind the chairs. It felt great to Nanako, having someone combing through her wet hair. The shampoo she'd chosen smelled like vanilla. It was a little too strong right now, but she knew it'd fade after the wash.

In the middle of the shampooing, Nanako's pocket began to buzz. She didn't open her eyes, but her face creased into a frown. She'd put her phone on silent so it wouldn't interrupt this event, but she hadn't expected anyone to try and contact her. She'd informed the team and Saki that she was busy this afternoon, so they shouldn't be trying to reach her.

Had... had something happened?

She stirred restlessly as the phone buzzed again a few moments later. 

"Do you need to get that?" the girl attending her asked.

Nanako bit her tongue while she thought about it. "No... it's okay."

If it was an emergency from the team, they'd contact Yosuke, too, or so she hoped. If he came running over here all of a sudden or something, then she'd worry.

Nanako sighed as the buzzing finally stopped.

"This is lovely," Ayane murmured.

"Isn't it?" Nanako said, pushing her phone out of her thoughts. "Rub my scalp a little more, why don't you?" she asked, and her attendant giggled and indulged her.

"I'm glad we came here," Ayane said. "Thanks for coming with me, Senpai..."

"Oh, no problem, Ayane-chan! You need to treat yourself like this sometimes. You work hard with your trombone, you know? Live a little!"

"I will!" Ayane declared, and her enthusiasm made Nanako smile.

The attendant began to comb conditioner into Nanako's hair. If it wasn't for the phone at the back of her mind, she might have enjoyed it enough to be lulled into sleep. Ayane definitely did; she seemed to be purring in the chair next to her, just like a cat.

"Hello, ladies," came a sing-song voice. "Still being worked on? Check this out!"

Nanako opened her eyes. It was, of course, Yosuke, and he had—wait, what? She blinked her eyes rapidly, not believing it for a second. There was no way...!

There was lock of bright magenta hair on his head. It was about an inch wide, to the left of his part.

"Oh my god," Nanako breathed, barely restraining herself from jumping out of the chair to give him a hug. 

"Senpai, wow...!" Ayane squeaked her agreement.

"Y-yeah, I thought it over, and..." Yosuke said, shrugging nonchalantly. "I was thinking of red or yellow, but they didn't seem to have the right zing, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Nanako agreed fervently. "It looks great, Yosuke, it really does."

"Yeah...? Good. Well, I'll wait for you two at the counter. Enjoy!"

Some time later, they emerged from the salon, all of them looking fabulous. Nanako's hair felt fuller than it had been in a long time, despite it being its natural straight. Ayane's looked great, too—she'd had the bangs clipped a little so that they framed her face in a very flattering way.

And Yosuke... well, he kept touching the magenta streak in his hair. He really seemed to like it.

"You know, Yosuke," Nanako remarked casually as they left the store. "If Kanji wasn't taken by that guy in glasses, you might have an honest chance with him now!"

Yosuke didn't even look at her—he just continued to play with the lock of hair. 

Now that they were free, Nanako finally checked her phone. She found several texts and a missed call from Aunt Seta. She read through the messages with a frown on her face. Her aunt had been trying to contact her to pick up Souji from his daycare.

Nanako swore under her breath. Her aunt had been so good at picking the boy up lately. Nanako hadn't expected this at all. By the timestamp, her call had been almost an hour ago. 

There was a more recent text, though:  
_Well, don't worry about it Nanako-chan. I was able to find someone else._

Nanako sighed with relief. Probably Aunt Seta had been able to get ahold of Naoto.

Feeling better now, Nanako poked Yosuke in the side. "Hey, we should go clubbing! I'd promised you forever ago, and now that we're friends again and all, it can happen."

Yosuke held a few strands of his magenta hair between his thumb and forefinger. "You think girls are gonna like this?"

"Positive, Senpai!" Ayane piped up. "It's very cute."

"Oh, I don't wanna be cute," Yosuke complained, "I want to be hot!"

"Why do guys have such an aversion to being called cute?" Nanako rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Don't you know some girls say that because they're too shy to say what they really feel? And for some girls, cute equals attractive! Take it as a compliment, Yosuke. That's what it's meant to be." 

Yosuke appeared to consider it for a moment. "No one ever said 'smoking cute,'" he muttered, though he didn't seem all that indignant anymore.

"Why don't we go out tomorrow night?" Nanako suggested. "I know it's a Sunday, but that means the club won't be super packed like it will be tonight. We won't stay out too late for school."

"I think I work until four," he said. "That works, right?"

"It sure does!" she declared. "Do you want to meet in Inaba or somewhere over here? The fountain's a nice place. We can't miss each other there."

"I'll need to grab a bite to eat," he said. "I'm going to be starving when I get off. I suppose I could eat at work, but I'd rather not."

"We could go to the Chagall Cafe," Nanako suggested.

As they further hashed out their plans to meet up, Nanako felt like she was missing something, but she couldn't place what it was. Yosuke began to frown, too, and then suddenly he whipped his head up, startled. "Ayane-san!" he said. "Are you free tomorrow? You should join us."

Ayane seemed startled herself. "O-oh, n-no thank you," she stammered out. 

Nanako eyed her critically. Ayane seemed to fade into the background when she and Yosuke got to talking. She'd have to work harder in the future to keep her involved in the conversation.

"Are you sure?" Yosuke asked. "I'd feel safer if someone other than Nanako came along."

"What, do you think I'm planning something?" Nanako feigned indignation for a moment before leaning in towards Ayane conspiratorially to whisper, "He's right."

Ayane's cheeks grew redder. "I'm sorry, Senpai! But I promised my family..."

"It's all right," Yosuke said, "but this was fun right? We should do something like this again."

"Yeah," Ayane said, her eyes glowing suddenly. "Maybe next time... we can get our nails done!"

"I'm gonna have to draw the line there," Yosuke said.

"You'd be even cuter with nails to match your hair," Nanako said, and Ayane began to giggle. She'd been joking from the start. She was a cool girl, wasn't she?

They took the bus home from Okina, and on the ride home, Nanako reflected that maybe scooters were something to look into. The bus had to make so. Many. Stops. It was one of the reasons she so rarely made the trip out of town, even though Okina was the nearest 'happening' place. And she'd have to make it again tomorrow night! It would totally be worth it though. Yosuke didn't even begin to suspect what he was in for.

When they finally got off at the central shopping district, Nanako bid farewell to her two friends and headed home. She expected to see Naoto and Souji sitting at the tea table. Souji would be working on his homework, and Naoto would be working at his laptop, and...

But the sight that greeted her in the living room was a completely different one. 

It was Adachi, sitting on the floor with his back against the foot of the couch.

Souji was sleeping in his lap. 

"What," Nanako said out loud. Then her instincts kicked in and she grabbed Aunt Seta's camera from the counter and snapped a photo of the adorable scene before the detective could raise any form of protest.

"I-I don't know how this happened either!" Adachi said, looking mostly embarrassed, but Nanako suspected she saw a hint of something akin to fatherly pride on his face. 

"Shush, don't wake him," Nanako scolded in a whisper.

Souji stirred, and they held their breath, but he didn't open his eyes. He simply snuggled his head against Adachi's chest, burrowing further into the man's jacket.

"He's been asleep for twenty minutes now," Adachi said in a murmur. 

"And you've just been sitting here, thinking about things, the whole time?"

"Pretty much," he admitted. "What else would I do?"

They watched the rise and fall of Souji's breathing for a long time. Nanako quietly told him about all the pictures she took on Thursday, promising that she'd show them to him after she got around to getting them all developed. He nodded, but it didn't seem like he was listening. His eyes appeared far away. Either he was not interested, too tired to be interested, or something else was on his mind.

"Uhh, thanks for picking him up, I guess," Nanako tried. "Auntie's been so good about picking him up lately that I didn't even think about it. I'm totally sorry. It's my job to get him when she can't."

"You're welcome," he said without enthusiasm. He sighed, and the rush of air from his nose ruffled Souji's hair.

"It won't happen again!" she promised right then and there. She needed to work at the daycare again anyway. It had been a long time.

"Shit happens." Adachi shrugged as much as he could with a 6-year-old in his lap. "But I'd rather I didn't..." he trailed off, looking down at Souji now with an unreadable expression.

"I wasn't even doing anything important today," she said absently. She frowned as something occurred to her. The daycare was really strict about who they let kids go home with. "Wait, they let you take Souji-kun from the daycare?"

"Yeah... I guess I'm still an emergency contact." Adachi said it a little too flatly. 

"Did you get pulled away from work?" she asked. "I'm really sorry about... wait. 'Still'?"

She caught herself before she asked if something had happened. Of course something'd happened, it was what was still hanging over this whole household and had been for almost a year now. 

Adachi confirmed it a second later. "It would have been better if I hadn't picked him up today. The only other time I picked him up before was the day his pop died."

Nanako breathed in and held her breath. 

"Yeah," he said, noting her expression. "So when he saw me at the daycare today, well, he thought the worst. Had to assure him that everything was okay..."

"I'm sorry," she said.

Adachi shook his head. "I'm the one who made a bunch of mistakes that day." He sighed and looked down at the boy in his lap. "Kid's probably scarred for life. I'm surprised he ever warmed up to me this much."

"He's a sweetie," she said with feeling. "And I think his scars are healing, a little bit at a time."

"Yeah...? I'm glad to hear it."

They regarded the sleeping Souji for a quiet moment. The rise and fall of his breathing was so soothing that Nanako almost wanted to take a nap herself. But she didn't really want to cuddle Adachi-san...

Poor Souji. Aunt Seta probably hadn't realized how the boy might react to Adachi picking him up from the daycare. When she found out, she'd probably feel as awful as Nanako felt about it. Souji might have relived a nightmare today. He looked so peaceful right now, asleep as he was, that no one could tell if he was hurting.

"Hey, uh," Adachi said. "I know it's your duty to tell her and all, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't make a big deal of this to his mom."

She wondered for a moment how he'd read her mind, but remembered that he was a detective. It was probably clear as day on her face.

"He's all right now," Adachi went on. "When we got home, I cheered him up with some magic tricks. He's a smart kid, though. He saw right through them all. It became kind of a game."

"And before you knew it," she murmured, "he'd fallen asleep in your lap."

Adachi looked at the boy for a long moment before whispering a soft "Yeah..."

They watched the boy sleep for a little bit longer. He was just too precious! Nanako considered taking more pictures of her slumbering baby, but the noise might startle him awake.

Eventually Adachi shifted awkwardly under his burden. He looked at Nanako a little desperately. "Uh, I need to move him."

Nanako considered the situation. No matter how carefully he tried to move him, Souji would probably wake up, so she decided to cut to the chase and wake him herself. She gently shook his shoulder until he opened his eyes. "Honey," she murmured. "Adachi-san needs to pee."

Souji yawned widely. He looked up at Adachi, and then began to extricate himself from the man's lap. A moment later he was sitting on the floor. His hair was such a mess that Nanako had to snap another picture.

Adachi unfolded his legs and hightailed it to the bathroom. Nanako had only guessed that he needed to go, but she was apparently right!

"Are you all right, honey?" Nanako asked, setting the camera aside.

"Big sis," Souji said with another big yawn. "I'm sleepy..."

"You gotta stay up," she said. "We'll have to go get dinner soon."

"Oh!" he said, perking up. "Mama will be hungry. Uhm... Adachi-san..."

He was looking past Nanako now, so she turned her head. Adachi was standing sheepishly near the dining room, having finished his business. It wasn't hard to imagine that he felt like an intruder. "Ah, I should be going," Adachi said, already beginning to back away.

"W-wait...!" Souji called after him. "Adachi-san!"

Adachi paused in mid-step. "Er, yeah?"

"W-will you stay for dinner?" Souji asked.

Nanako wasn't sure who was more surprised by this, herself or Adachi. Emotions crossed over the detective's face, too quickly to be recognized before he affixed a smile in their place. 

"Sure," he said.

* * *

[9/25: Sunday]

Nanako didn't have a chance to watch Tanaka's Amazing Commodities like she'd planned to because right when it was about to air, there was a knock on the door to the Seta Residence. It was rather early in the morning—whoever it was was lucky she was even dressed!

She took the stairs two steps at a time, but Naoto had already opened the front door and was greeting the visitors: Takeyoshi-kun and his mother. Souji was right behind Naoto, peering around him and then waving at his friend. Nanako joined them at the doorway.

Takeyoshi's mother was staring openly at Naoto. "I've seen you on TV," she said slowly.

"Detective Prince!" Takeyoshi announced, also recognizing Naoto.

"That's right," Takeyoshi's mom continued excitedly, "you put the police in their place! It was all over the news for a while there." She paused, and her excitement faded into thoughtfulness. "That was some time ago. It seems like nothing's happened since then."

"Dad says it's boring," Takeyoshi remarked.

"The police are surely hard at work, now that their eyes have been opened," Naoto said tactfully, "even if it seems that things are quiet. And I promise that I am still working on the case."

"He won't rest until it's solved," Nanako chimed in. 

Naoto suppressed a grin. "In any case, would you like to come in? I'm brewing some hot coffee, but I can also serve some tea."

"Are there cookies?" Takeyoshi asked. "More dinosaur cookies. They were so good."

"Unfortunately, we are all out of cookies," Naoto said, "so it would just be tea."

"I have to get going soon," Takeyoshi's mom said, rejecting the offer. "But I'm glad to know that Ta-chan will be in good hands! I didn't know the Setas entertained such company."

Nanako bit off a harsh reply. Why was the woman such a bitch to her? Nanako had been nothing but nice to her and her son. 

"But first," Takeyoshi's mom went on, "I want to see the star of the show!"

It took everyone a moment to realize she was looking at Souji, who was still half-hidden by Naoto. His big eyes blinked and he stepped forward shyly.

"Ta-chan tells me you forgot your line in the play!" The woman bent down to his level and patted him on the head. "That's so adorable... aren't you glad you have such a great friend?"

"C-compatriot," Souji murmured.

"So adorable," she repeated with a tight grin. She straightened up and addressed Naoto. "What time should I return to pick him up?"

"About three," Nanako answered promptly, though her tone was clipped. The woman earned some points for recognizing what a treasure Souji was, but not many!

Takeyoshi's mom promised she'd be there, then swept her own son in her arms to kiss him on the cheek in an embarrassing display. "Aww, Mom!" he protested, but his rosy cheeks betrayed his happiness. 

Nanako wondered if that was worth another point as they watched her leave down the road.

After Takeyoshi removed his shoes, he told Naoto, "I want some coffee."

Naoto raised an eyebrow. "Have you had it before? It requires a refined palate."

"Ta-kun likes it black," Souji said.

"You are the weirdest kid, Ta-kun," Nanako remarked. "No coffee for me, thanks, Shirogane-san. Oh, Auntie! Would you like any?"

Aunt Seta had come out of her room. She blinked owlishly at everyone present. "Ah, I'm sorry. I should have been the one to answer the door. I was in a call..."

"I'm just glad you're here," Nanako said, smiling brightly. Souji was already looking up at his mom, ready to hang onto her every word. "You've met Takeyoshi-kun before. He's staying over for a bit."

"Did I miss his mother? Perhaps it's for the best." 

"You don't like my mom," Takeyoshi stated, having heard the woman's sigh of relief.

Aunt Seta paused, startled at being called out. "Ah, Takeyoshi-kun," she said, recovering quickly. "I'm sure your mother is a wonderful person, but she always tries to get me to join her candle parties, and I simply don't have the time."

Takeyoshi's eyes remained narrowed for a long moment. "Those parties are kinda boring," he conceded.

"I've been to one exactly once," Aunt Seta said. "And then said, 'Never again!' I imagine you're told to remain in your room and be quiet when your mother is hosting one?"

"Actually, she kinda dresses me up nice to show off..." Takeyoshi trailed off. "Umm..."

"To show off how cute you are," Souji finished helpfully.

Nanako snorted in laughter, though underneath it she was thinking that the cutest one was her cousin! Takeyoshi looked a little put out, so Nanako bent down and rubbed her nose against his. "Yep! Cute as a button!"

Now Takeyoshi was blushing even harder, but he obviously wasn't displeased.

"I used to be quite the same as your mother," Aunt Seta remarked, "until a certain someone helped me realized that my little boy was cute in all the clothes."

"When Souji wore that jinbei, it was the cutest cute to end all cutes!" Nanako said. She proceeded to give Souji several nose kisses as well, and the boy just giggled.

"Oh, oh, big sis," Souji said when she let him go. "Umm... I-it's almost time for Loveline!"

Loveline or not, with a group that big there was no way they wouldn't have fun. Takeyoshi-kun tried to escape, mumbling that he never watched the show, but Nanako just tugged him over to the low table and sat him right down on a floor cushion. Souji squeezed in between him and Nanako, and Naoto sat on her other side. Aunt Seta took a seat at the couch just a few feet behind them and turned on the TV for them.

Nanako brought out the bag of gummi snacks she kept under the table and had everyone take one, feeling rather guilty that this silly tradition made her happier than the actual show nowadays. When the opening song started to play, Souji sang along with it, just as she once had. No one had prompted him, either, which made her so happy that she decided to nudge Takeyoshi until he was humming along, too. The real surprise came when Naoto started poking her, urging Nanako to do the same. As always, nothing got past the Detective Prince.

The episode was about stolen love letters between two minor NPC lovebirds who would likely only appear in this one episode and never again after, but even so, she shouted "We're on the case!" with Souji when Detective Loveline said her catchphrase, and fun times were had.

All of a sudden, Nanako heard a giggly snort come from behind her. She glanced back at Aunt Seta, who was looking down at her phone. "What's up?" Nanako asked, curious.

Aunt Seta shook her head. "I was looking for a photo I'd taken at a business meeting, but I found this." She turned the phone around so that everyone could see the picture.

It was a photo of Souji sitting in Nanako's lap, with Nanako covering his ears. By the clothing, Nanako easily recognized it as from the summer festival. There wasn't much lighting since it was evening; they were only illuminated by the fireworks blasting in the sky. And possibly the particular firework that was going off at the time had been a pink or red one, since it made Souji's jinbei look even more rosy pink than it actually was.

"I wish I'd had my actual camera at the time," Aunt Seta remarked, "but I hadn't brought it down by then. It's still a scene to remember. He really is adorable in his jinbei."

"He looks so pink," Takeyoshi observed, noticing the exact same thing Nanako had. "You know, that's Yuuta's favorite color."

Nanako blinked. "Wait, how did you know that? I don't think it's something he advertises." 

"Well, it's obvious," he said, and if he wore glasses he'd sure as hell have been adjusting them right then. "Everyone at school makes fun of him for it."

Nanako's hackles rose as defensive anger awoke within her. She was about to say something, but she was beaten to the punch.

"Does his mother know about this?" Aunt Seta demanded, dropping the phone and setting her hands on her hips. "She needs to." 

"Probably not," Nanako said, calming down a little simply because seeing Aunt Seta get riled up gave off the impression that something was going to happen to someone soon. "But I can talk to Minami-san this Saturday. I'm planning to go to the daycare."

"Yuuta-kun," Souji volunteered. "He, umm... he really likes plushies."

"The cutest ones," Nanako murmured.

"B-but he doesn't have any at home, so... when I brought Foxie, it was his first time playing with one. He really liked how soft she is, big sis... But the other kids, they..."

Naoto smiled wryly. "It begins this early, huh...?"

"That's when Foxie got ripped," Nanako mused. "This reminds me, my first time at the daycare, I had the kids play dress-up, and it was all just fun and games, you know? But some of the parents were so awful about it. 'Why is my little boy in a skirt?' 'How dare you put a baseball cap on my daughter!' Man... most of those boys looked so cute in dresses, let me tell you."

"You have no pictures of Souji in a dress?" Aunt Seta asked.

"Oh... Souji wasn't playing with us at the time. He was really shy back then! Weren't you?" Nanako tickled him just enough to make him giggle.

"You know..." Naoto began, but then he paused. With everyone's eyes on him, however, he pressed on. "Well, sometimes I think about how it would be to wear a dress."

Nanako tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"...but I absolutely hate skirts," Naoto finished.

"You'd look lovely in a dress," Aunt Seta commented. 

"Oh, but not as lovely as when you wear that cardigan!" Nanako said with a grin.

Naoto blushed, and just a moment later laughed heartily. Nanako wrapped an arm around her friend so that they'd sit just a bit closer during the next show.

Which was, of course, Featherman! Takeyoshi's excitement grew when a short preview was shown during Loveline's credits. "Yeah! They're gonna fight the Kooky Gang today!" he exclaimed.

"The Cookie Gang?" Nanako teased. "Sounds yummy!"

"No, it's..." Takeyoshi frowned, and then his expression became flat as he realized Nanako hadn't misheard him at all.

"It's the gang that Owl used to be in before he joined the Rangers," Naoto explained in his stead. "His past is meeting up with him. It will be interesting, to say the least."

Nanako smiled indulgently at him, thinking about cookies instead. They'd have to bake some later!

The episode of Featherman might have been more interesting to Nanako if she'd been more invested in the series, but everyone else's excitement was catching. She cheered along with Souji and Naoto when Owl rejected his sinister roots to continue to stand with the good guys. 

She noticed then, however, that one little boy was having the opposite reaction.

"Why would he give up on his old friends like that?" Takeyoshi muttered. "They took him in when his parents died. It, it almost feels like... the Rangers stole him away."

But they're the bad guys, Nanako almost said, but she didn't, because it was all a matter of perspective. "Sometimes," she said, "you're friends with the bad guy." 

She sighed, then noticed that Souji was playing with the phone his mother had given him. In fact, he offered it to her now. "M-Mama, look... I saw a kitty with Ta-kun when we went to cram school."

Aunt Seta took the phone from him and looked at the screen. "Very nice, Souji. Here, I'll show you a trick. You can hold the phone on its side... Do you see? Next time you can get the whole cat in the picture."

"Y-yes, Mama!" Souji said, beaming up at her and tilting the phone different ways to see how the camera app reacted. "I can even hold it upside down. Big sis, look!"

It was a close up of a gray cat's face. It was just sitting there under a bush. Its eyes looked demon red from the camera phone's flash. 

"Felis Domesticus," Takeyoshi said. "That means 'domestic cat.'"

"It meowed at me, like this!" Souji said excitedly. "M-meowww..."

"Sou-kitty?" Nanako teased. "Y'know, I think..." She paused, her mind racing. Had she packed those? No, that would be silly. But she was silly, so maybe she had...?

"Big sis?"

"One moment, Sou-chan!" With a small grunt, she heaved herself to her feet. Sitting for over an hour made her legs a little tired, so she stumbled a bit before making her way up the stairs and to her room.

She'd lived here for over almost half a year now, but she still had some of her less essential stuff packed in moving boxes. It was probably in this one... She rummaged through it, pulling out extra hair clips, a friendship bracelet, a manga that she didn't really like, and then there it was.

A kitty-eared hairband!

So sometimes she liked to cosplay! At least this item from the costume was coming in handy… Maybe one day Saki could be allowed to see the rest.

Souji's eyes lit up when she came back downstairs and he saw the hairband in her hands. She put it right on him, though it didn't fit his little head all that well. Regardless, he immediately got into character and began to purr. He rubbed his head against her side. 

Nanako began to giggle. "Sou-chan! That tickles!" 

Souji just continued to purr. There was a surprising amount of strength behind him as he butted his head right into her side, rubbing her affectionately just like a cat would.

Helpless, she fell onto the floor, giggling, and Souji followed her there, purring harder now. He'd curled his hands into fists to mimic paws, and now he was setting them on her belly. Soon he'd climbed right onto her stomach and was hiding his 'paws' under his own belly, sitting imperially on top of her like... well, like a very comfortable cat!

When Nanako finally caught her breath, she just looked at the boy's grinning face. She reached out a hand and scritched his head, right above his ear. The hairband had fallen off long ago, but he leaned into her fingers and maybe his smile grew even bigger.

Then she wrapped both her arms around him and enveloped him in a huge hug. 

Suddenly there was a heavy weight on her legs.

"Meoowwwww," came Takeyoshi's voice.

"What is this, a kitty pile-up?" she asked, laughing, though not very hard with a little boy on her belly! 

The two boys began to meow in unison, or perhaps not in unison, it sounded quite noisy, but it was music to her ears.

Perhaps the most melodic part of all was the sound of a camera capturing a photo of the scene. When Nanako turned her head, she found Aunt Seta beaming down at them from behind the lens, looking more at home than Nanako had ever seen her.

* * *

Nanako met Yosuke at the fountain in Okina, finding him easily since he stood out so much, and not just because of the magenta streak in his hair; he was dressed casually in a salmon-colored shirt that was cut so low about his shoulders that it showed his entire collarbone. Did he have any inkling what that did to her? Probably not, but the sight surprised her even more than the fact that he'd left his signature headphones at home. Instead, around his neck was a necklace with a metal charm of some sort hanging from it.

"What are you wearing?" he said upon seeing her, sounding both awed and accusatory all at once.

"I could say the same to you!" she said. "I didn't know you even owned a pair of jeans."

"Who doesn't own a pair of jeans?" he countered. "I wish we could wear them at school. But really, Nanako. That dress... kinda reminds me of the TV World."

Now that he mentioned it, the black and white striped design she was wearing did evoke that disorienting feel of falling into the TV. She did a light twirl, letting her dress flare out a bit. That only made it worse. "I didn't intend it to be like that at all! Man, I liked this dress too. Why'd you have to ruin it?"

"S-sorry," he stammered. "It looks great on you, it really does! Maybe black was your color all along. It goes well with your eyes."

"Yeah? People always like to put me in pink, not that I hate that or anything." But pink was Yuu-chan's color now. Nanako couldn't think of it without thinking of him. "Or yellow, but I don't always want to look like a sunflower."

"It worked well for a swimsuit," he agreed, "but not so much for casual clothes. Anyway, what's on the agenda?"

"This!" She handed him a slip of a paper she'd purchased before meeting him here.

"A train ticket?" Yosuke stared down at the item in question in his hand before fixing her with a questioning look. "I thought we were just going to a club here in Okina."

"There is exactly one club in Okina," Nanako explained, "and since, unless you count Old Lady Shiroku, that number is zero for Inaba, the whole town will be there, all four people."

Yosuke held in a little giggle. "True," he conceded, "but I thought this was to help me get a girlfriend. It's not going to work out if she lives all the way in Shibuya!"

Nanako raised an eyebrow at him, inwardly laughing at a joke only she understood. For now, anyway. "Yosuke, when did we ever talk about getting you a girlfriend?"

"We totally talked about it!"

"Besides," she brushed him off, "distance isn't the end all, and anyone dating you is gonna need some loooooooong breaks."

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Nanako. What are we doing there, then?"

"What else? We're going to have some fun!"

* * *

The club's greeter, a big burly guy named Kouichi who also acted as the bouncer, stood right outside the entrance. Nanako knew he was truly a sweetheart underneath his 250 pounds of muscle. In fact, he reminded her of Kanji, or rather, Kanji had always reminded her of him! "Nanako-chan!" he said, uncrossing his meaty arms and moving in for a hug. "I thought you died."

"I almost did," she told him as they exchanged kisses on the cheeks, and they both knew she wasn't joking, "but you know me. Like a zombie, I just keep coming back up!" 

Nanako waved Yosuke forward, since he'd been lingering back, intimidated at the sight of all that muscle. "This is a friend of mine," she said. "Don't worry, Kou-chan, we aren't going to cause any trouble."

Kouichi looked Yosuke up and down. "...You sure he belongs here?"

"What? Just look at his hair!"

Under his scrutiny, Yosuke nervously began to toy with the pink streak in his hair, and though he had no idea, that was exactly what Nanako meant for him to do. Meanwhile, Kouichi's hard look softened. "All right, honey, go on in."

"Told you we wouldn't need fake IDs," Nanako whispered to Yosuke as they crossed through the doorway, just as his mouth started to drop at the sight of the club. Nanako knew why: the lighting. Red was the only color that could be seen in there.

"I see why you're wearing black and white now..." he murmured, and then she took his arm, and in they went.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Nanako said as he took in everything. Red was only for the bar. The dance floor was a vivid yellow, and the tables beyond a somber blue, and that was not even the best part!

"Whoa, hello there handsome!" someone said as they approached the bar, amidst a number of wolf whistles.

"You sure are popular tonight," Yosuke murmured as he took a seat.

Nanako smiled. The music wasn't too loud yet, so the comments wouldn't stop, but she paid them no mind. From the corner of her eye she spied her old flame sitting in the corner, as dazzling and beautiful as she remembered, leagues above the one back in Inaba.

"I don't understand half this list," Yosuke complained, oblivious to her lust. 

Nanako looked over at him.

"Oh, you aren't supposed to use the menu, silly," she said, swiping it from his hands, then raising her own to call the distant bartender.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're new here, so let the master decide," she explained. "Besides, there are new drinks everyday. You should experiment!"

Yosuke seemed nervous, but his body language—sitting on the edge of the seat, hands on knees—told her he was giddy. Eventually, the bartender, a slim, handsome man with glasses and a rigid expression, approached them. Yosuke promptly straightened his back on instinct.

"Nanako-san," the man said politely, even bowing his head a little bit, though his expression went unchanged.

"Ryu-san," she said in kind. Yosuke just sort of watched. Probably, she realized, he'd never seen her being polite.

"What can I do for you today?" Ryu asked, giving Yosuke only the most cursory of glances.

"I was hoping you'd introduce my friend here to one of your wonderful cocktails," Nanako answered. This earned Yosuke a longer glance, though she suspected his eyes were hidden from view by the lighting, same as they were the first time she'd met him. Yosuke didn't dare breathe, so she nudged him to introduce himself.

"M-my name is Yosuke Hanamura!" he said in a squeaky voice. 

Ryu sent her a subtly disgruntled stare. No doubt he was thinking, 'another jailbait,' but he'd never say it out loud. Wordlessly, he began preparing ingredients from under the table. Nanako had to straighten her back to see them—a watermelon, some lime, a bottle she didn't recognize but was probably syrup, and some Shiranami. Nanako had always loved the waves on the label, and... gosh, was he popping it open? That was rare. The whole watermelon was too, usually he had them cut beforehand. Yosuke watched in awe as the weird ingredients were smashed and mixed and shaken until a very small glass containing a foamy pinkish liquid was presented to him, with four ice cubes added afterwards.

"Um, thanks..." Yosuke said, not knowing whether he should take a shot or comment on the drink or what. Nanako knew, she'd been there once.

"Pink, just like your hair," she offered.

"In this lighting, at least," Ryu said, smiling to make Yosuke feel more at ease, though inwardly he was probably facepalming.

Yosuke picked the glass up carefully, taking a long hard look at the contents before allowing himself the slightest sip. Nanako rolled her eyes, but allowed him to savor the moment.

"This is really good," he said eventually, then taking another, longer sip. "I thought sake was supposed to burn in your throat, though. This feels more like drinking juice."

"This is a common cocktail not usually served here," Ryu explained, "not made with sake but with shochu, specifically Shiranami distilled from sweet potato."

"You need to appreciate the basics before moving on to stronger drinks," Nanako added, reminded that Ryu had told her the same thing, a long time ago.

"There was potato in this?" Yosuke asked, raising the now nearly empty glass. Nanako couldn't help but laugh, and even Ryu could not suppress a more genuine smile.

"Ryu-san, do you still have that Okinawan one?" Nanako asked as a blushing Yosuke finished his drink. Ryu nodded, so she ordered two before he went to serve the other clients.

"That guy was scarier than the bouncer!" Yosuke whispered to her once Ryu was out of earshot.

Nanako played with her new yellow drink a little, remembering the first time she'd tasted it. "Ryu-san takes his job seriously. I heard he used to work at one of those underground bars that open at night and stay open until morning, so he knows how to deal with seedy people."

Yosuke bit his lip. Nanako noticed because he'd spilled some of his drink despite being extra careful, and it was gleaming in the red light... She almost raised a hand to clean it, but maybe that'd hurt his odds with the people there, so she decided against it.

Eventually, he spoke:

"You really had a life before Inaba, huh?"

"I did," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. What was he getting at?

Yosuke downed his entire drink (pausing to hiss a little, because this one was a lot more citric) before proceeding.

"I envy you, Nanako," he said.

That was new...

"You have all these friends," he continued, "you've seen things, and lived things. Inaba is just another chapter in your life, but what about me? What have I been doing all this time?"

Nanako was the one to down her whole drink this time. "We're not drunk enough for this," she finally said, "but don't envy me, Yosuke. Inaba has been messing me up more than you know."

There was a pause as he pondered her words, but that time was cut short by a drastic change in scenery. Without any warning, the red light that had been covering them from head to toe disappeared, as did the yellow from the dance floor and the blue from the tables beyond. The entire club stood in complete darkness and silence, the drinks in their hands and distant whispers the only proof they were still there, until just as suddenly, the lights went up again, but different. The music was replaced by a cacophony of ecstatic screams as the dance floor turned blue and the bar yellow, the club's gimmick finally at play.

Then a real song kicked up, much louder than anything before, and Nanako turned to Yosuke.

"Come," she said, offering her hand. "Let's dance."

Several other patrons were unable to resist the dance floor's siren call. Nanako pulled Yosuke right into the center of the small crowd gathered there and then began to dance, kicking up her heels and swinging her arms to the steadily-increasing beat.

Yosuke matched her movements easily, a soft smile playing over his features. Any reservations he might have entertained were gone now as he became one with the music. It was a wonder his Persona didn't specialize in water; his movements were just so fluid. Without consciously thinking about it, he knew exactly where he was going to place his feet, and his body followed with him.

It was fun to watch, and—oh, he was drawing attention! A cute boy with brown hair not all that dissimilar to Yosuke's own had pushed his way forward, apparently wanting to dance with him. He wore a green flannel jacket and tight yellow pants. Nanako nodded at him and stepped back to give him space. 

Despite suddenly being confronted by this new partner, Yosuke was so into the music that he didn't falter at all. He flashed a grin at the boy, who smiled so easily back at him that Nanako's own heart went doki, snapped his fingers to the next part of the song and moved into a smooth slide. This brought him closer to his new partner than he'd intended, mostly because said partner had stepped forward into it for that express purpose. 

Nanako held her breath—this was a moment of truth—but Yosuke seemed uncomfortable at the closeness only for a second. He glanced around at the others dancing around him, noting perhaps that pretty much all of them were same-sex and dancing just as close to their partners, and then relaxed, winking at the boy in front of him and leading him into the next dance.

She decided to let them have fun and returned to the bar, where she found Ryu already pouring her a refreshing glass of water and setting it next to her alcoholic drink. He remembered how she'd complained about being thirsty that time so long ago after dancing for almost an hour straight. She thanked him for the water before downing the entire glass. The sweat trickling down her back only proved how much she needed the rehydration.

Nanako turned around on the stool to observe the dance floor, where Yosuke and his new friend were still busting moves. "Is there anything I should know about that boy?" she asked Ryu as casually as she could manage.

Ryu adjusted his glasses. "He was hurt in the past," he answered, "though there's nothing unusual about that."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Nanako sighed her agreement. "I just wanna make sure Yosuke's in good hands. He'd be eaten alive by some of your customers I could name!"

"In this case, you have nothing to worry about."

"Good," Nanako murmured, and then she blinked as the lights went out. When they came back on, this time the bar was bathed in blue, which was her cue to get away from there before she was run-over by the stampede.

She stepped around to the dance floor's sidelines, peering into the group of dancers tinted red by the lights, but frowning when she was unable to find Yosuke. He'd been there just a minute ago!

Then she spied him over at a table, his dance partner sitting across from him. She sneaked forward until she could overhear their conversation.

"Do you come here often?" 

"N-no, actually, this is my first time here," Yosuke answered honestly.

Nanako bit off a chuckle—Yosuke might get eaten alive yet! But she knew Ryu wouldn't lie to her about this, and now that she'd voiced her concerns to to him, Ryu'd be watching out for Yosuke too. 

Yosuke was so awkward, though. Nanako wasn't sure he even realized the guy was hitting on him, though that was adorable on a whole other level. Maybe she ought to give him a hint? Not for the first time that evening, she eyed her old flame, now bathed in magnificent blue light. None were allowed too close, and why should they? Few understood that sublime beauty. Nanako was proud to be one of those few.

Now determined, she made her way back to the bar. As expected, Ryu was no longer working the counter, leaving the job to some new hire she didn't recognize. Ryu was more about serving clients individually, and right now there were too many pissants just out for cheap sake. With some work, she sneaked past the hordes until she and her flame were face to face.

The grand piano at Love Is Blue had to be the second best in Japan. Even from afar, she could tell there was not a speck of dust on it, and she'd bet good money that all the keys were sparkling underneath the mahogany case. The one in Inaba must have been this beautiful once, she thought to herself.

"I've never seen your eyes so longing," Ryu said suddenly, making her jump.

Once her breath had calmed, she managed to quip that yes, he had, every single time she saw that beauty, but he shook his head.

"Yes, you always want to play," he said, "but you never take in the details like you are right now."

"I haven't seen anything like this in months," she admitted as he allowed her past the safety line.

"Did you not have one back at home?"

"I had to move in with my aunt for this year," she explained. "There is a piano at the school there, but can you believe they let it rot in a storage room for years? The club captain even threatened to scrap it!"

Ryu was so disgusted that the crowd around him even cleared a little bit. It was great talking to someone who could recognize the crimes committed against that poor piano; sadly, Ryu had never allowed her to play this one, no matter how good a sob story she conjured, and this time wouldn't be any different.

"Do you want to play?" Ryu asked, and for a moment it was as though the bar had gone dark again.

"Wha—?" she said eloquently. 

"Only one song," he clarified.

"What what what?" she further explicated. 

Ryu shrugged his shoulders, and without any further ado, she hopped on that chair and raised the wooden case, trembling as she tentatively touched one of the keys. The note was perfect, and signaled the club to go silent. Nanako wouldn't let this go to waste. 

Yosuke. Yosuke needed a hint, she had been going to ask Ryu to play a romantic piece but now she could play one herself; she recalled the piece she'd played for Saki, and decided nothing would be more romantic than playing what she had played for her own love.

A blue spotlight began to shine on her as her fingers lovingly caressed the keys. She was the club's focus now, or rather, her old flame was, as she began to play. 

She blinked away tears that began to form in her eyes. Surely no one could be unaffected by the beautiful sound the chords were producing. She almost imperceptibly glanced up at the audience, able to play this song blindfolded if she ever needed to, and there was quite a crowd around the piano stage, though it was difficult to make out any details since they were just outside the edge of the spotlight. She barely heard someone squeak in surprise at the sight of someone other than Ryu playing, but beyond that were only indecipherable whispers.

She tossed her head, allowing her long hair to flow back and around her shoulders. Her headband had fallen off during the dancing, but she liked to have her hair loose while she played, it made her feel... unrestricted. Free.

And with that act she could take a better look at those watching, even managing to catch eyes with Yosuke. She smiled at him and his partner, who whispered something in his ear now, and Yosuke nodded in response without taking his eyes away from her.

She suspected he still didn't get it. It was almost too bad the song lacked lyrics, not that she could sing well enough to do this piece justice. Instead, she transferred her gaze to Yosuke's new friend. He blinked at her and tilted his head in question, and Nanako winked at him. 

It was up to him now. Nanako returned her attention to the keys, thinking about the song as she played it. As the story went, her mom once worked in a bar much like this one, "for a given value of working." Chisato always loved her mysteries... but, the story must have been at least partly true, since Ryu had known her from that bar. Either way, there was no doubt the song held great meaning to her. Nanako would often find her playing it absentmindedly, and even her hardass father smiled more softly during those times.

There was a round of applause as the spotlight left her. Not too much, she was an amateur compared to Ryu, but since the man himself was among the ones applauding, well, she allowed herself satisfaction. There were also lots of people making out. Nanako looked over to try and see whether Yosuke was one of them, but he was too far away and her eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark; she hoped that he'd at least be smiling.

She returned to the bar and waited for Ryu to return from wiping down the keys to the piano. She would've done that if he'd asked, but probably he wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. The piano was precious to him, after all. 

"What'll it be this time?" Ryu asked when he was behind the bar once again. "Something foreign, perhaps?"

Oh, so he wasn't even going to comment on her playing? That was a very Ryu response, so she couldn't complain, not really. "Something a little harder this time. A tequila sunrise!"

While she watched him pour orange juice and tequila into a tall glass, Nanako suddenly found herself hugged from behind. No, it wasn't actually a hug, it was just Yosuke pressed right up against her back, his arm reaching around as he shoved a paper in front of her face. "Nanako, look at this!" he yelled.

She crossed her eyes peering down at it but couldn't make any sense of the chicken scratch. "Yeah?"

"That guy... he shoved this in my pants!"

Nanako grinned at him but said nothing.

"I-I think it's his phone number," Yosuke finished, sounding awed. 

"Nice. Someone's getting out of this night ahead!"

"I wanted a girlfriend, not a boyfriend," he protested.

He sighed after that, but Nanako could tell that despite his words, it wasn't an unhappy sigh. Besides, he suddenly began to smile, and it was completely unprompted. She suspected that he might be thinking of his new friend. Especially considering the way he kept toying with a particular spot on his neck. Had he been kissed there...?

Ryu slid the tequila sunrise forward in front of Nanako, then turned to Yosuke. "Hanamura. Would you like a drink?"

"Oh, you remembered my name..." He sounded uncertain about that, likely intimidated by it. "Uhh..."

"Try this," Nanako suggested, offering him the glass. 

He sipped from the straw and then grimaced. "Whoa, that's stronger than the last one."

"You like it?"

"I..." He licked his lips. "Yeah, actually. Could I have one?"

She gave him her drink to have for himself. Taking in the blue lights now covering the tables on the far side of the dance floor and the club's name, she decided to ask Ryu to make something that used blue curacao. She watched him put a splash of grenadine into a shotglass, then add some sort of schnapps, and lastly, the curacao. The way it layered made the blue coloring seem like it was lazily sinking into the clear schnapps.

As it was a shot, she downed it in one gulp, shuddering afterward. This place always served the good stuff.

"Nanakooooo," Yosuke suddenly wailed. She turned and found him toying with the paper in his hands. He'd finished his drink faster than she'd expected him to. "I don't swing that way, y'know?"

"Did you read what was on that guy's t-shirt?" she said. "It said he swung both ways. There are people like that."

Yosuke blinked at her twice, his eyelids seeming very heavy, before slowly replying, "You're like that."

She nodded. "Yep. There are more people like that than you're aware of. And there's nothing wrong with it, you know? Experimenting, discovering who you are... It can take years, but we're young, we have time."

After another moment of staring at it, Yosuke folded up the paper and put it in his back pocket, then smiled. "Hey, bartender, can I have another?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last scene was a little crossover with a bl hentai game called No Thank You!!. It's, umm, explicit, so don't look into it if you're not into that. It takes place in a classy bar so we couldn't resist, and Hiroyuki, a dateable character in it, is a cutie pie who wears [the best shirt.](http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/NTY-Hiroyuki.png)


	48. Like, Comment, and Subscribe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun times with family and friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angevon here. I am sorry to say that updates will be irregular from here on out. You've probably already noticed that, haha. Basically, I finally landed a full-time job, and because of it, I only have energy to write on the weekends, if that! Rest assured that I will keep writing, even if it's at a snail's pace.
> 
> Oh, and here's a content warning for this chapter: this one has some disturbing imagery!

[9/26: Monday]

Using the mirror built into the standing closet in her room, Nanako brushed her hair with the softest brush she owned. It was messier than she liked, and she considered washing it under the faucet in the bathroom, but in the end she settled on tying it back under its headband. She tilted her head to the side. It was still messy, really, but it would do.

There was the tiniest of knocks on her bedroom door. "Yes, Sou-chan?" she called.

"Breakfast," Souji's little voice answered.

She smiled to herself and opened the door. She took Souji's hand and helped him down the stairs to the kitchen, where Naoto was making some toast. It wasn't much of a breakfast, but Nanako was starving so she didn't complain at all. Besides, bread was probably the best thing for her at the moment.

"Good morning, Nanako-san. Did you have fun last night?" Naoto asked, cutting right to the chase. His tone was just a little too neutral.

"Yep," Nanako answered, "and I called you before I got on the train home, just like I said I would. There was nothing to worry about. It's not like I went to Kabukicho."

"I know that, and I know you needed that escape as well." Naoto sighed. "But I have to disapprove on principle. You are nowhere near 20, so you should not be drinking. Perhaps more importantly, however: is Hanamura-san's dignity still intact?"

"Yosuke's fiiiine," Nanako drawled. "Really, he had a good time. He even made a hot new friend."

Souji squeaked at that, perking up at mention of his 'partner.' "I-I'm glad!" he said. His eyes were closed as he grinned up at her.

"You're not even jealous, are you?" Nanako remarked. "That's good."

"I'm glad," Souji repeated, blinking now. "I'm glad that you went somewhere with partner, and had fun. I want..."

He trailed off, apparently flustered by his own train of thought. "Yes, honey?" she prompted.

"Can we hang out with him sometime? Big sis, I want to be there!"

So he was a little jealous. Nanako readily promised that soon they'd go out somewhere, either to Junes or to the flood plain to have a picnic with Yosuke. "And I'll tell you a secret, Sou-chan. Do you know what it is?"

"N-no, big sis!" His eyes were almost as big as the 'O' his mouth was making. "What is it?"

"Yosuke wants to hang out with you, too!"

* * *

"Fuck everything," Yosuke moaned. The heel of his palm continuously rubbed circles on his forehead, and his face was contorted in a grimace.

He and Nanako were walking to school, though it was more like trudging than walking simply due to Yosuke's pace. It had been a surprise when he'd sidled up beside her, but as it turned out, he was in no condition to ride a bike. He must've left it behind at home.

"I feel like shit," he finished.

"Drama queen," Nanako teased. "You should have joined the theater club."

"Please don't talk." He sighed and rubbed his forehead harder.

While they walked on in silence, Nanako observed that clouds were gathering in the sky. The weather report had said it would rain today. All day, in fact, so it should be raining right now, but it was probably lucky that it wasn't. Otherwise, she suspected, Yosuke wouldn't have even gotten up out of bed this morning.

Yosuke suddenly looked at her with one eye, because his other eye was hidden behind his palm. "Nanako."

"Yeah?"

"That was a gay bar, wasn't it? Last night."

"Sure was."

Yosuke didn't visibly react, just continued to stare at her while they walked on.

Finally, he frowned. "Doesn't that mean everybody in there was gay? That bartender didn't look gay."

"Not everyone wears their heart on their sleeve, Yosuke."

"Heart, huh..." he muttered.

He let his gaze fall. A boy in glasses rushed ahead of them so fast that Nanako couldn't tell if it was her classmate or not, and that caught their attention for a moment.

"I thought you'd be making noise to annoy me," Yosuke said once the boy was out of sight.

"Honey," she said, "I'm hungover too."

"You did get those two double tequilas at the end there."

"Tequila squared," she joked weakly. She regretted that, really she did.

They turned down the road that led to the school. It was a long road, and Nanako hated it. It seemed like it was long just to increase your dread for the day to come (and boy, were she and Yosuke going to dread it today).

"Did you have a good time?" she asked him casually, since it seemed like it was okay for her to talk now.

Yosuke lowered his hand from his face to smile at her. "Yeah, I did. Thanks for taking me there, Nanako."

Nanako smiled back. Yosuke did have a nice smile, she would grant him that much.

"Be honest, though, is my hair gay?"

Nanako spent the rest of the walk to school assuring Yosuke that his magenta streak was not, in fact, a beacon to dudes who liked dudes. Before she knew it, they were already at Classroom 2-2.

Inside, several students were gathered around one desk, all straining to look at something on the female class rep's cell phone. By the various murmurs of 'aww' and 'how cute', it was probably a cat video or something. It reminded Nanako that she needed to get the newest pictures on Aunt Seta's camera developed so she could show it off to everyone she met. The photo album would surely be filled in no time.

Before they knew it, Ms. Kashiwagi arrived to start class. She told them to put everything away. They were going to have a pop quiz.

"Fuck everything," Yosuke moaned.

* * *

[9/29: Thursday]

When Yosuke had rejoined the team, he'd informed everyone that he'd never stopped watching the Midnight Channel, but seeing as he'd reportedly crashed harder than a lame donkey the moment he got home Monday night, he missed it this once. To be fair, Nanako did too; hopefully the murderer hadn't been given an advantage over them or anything. What was this town even talking about, anyway? Nothing of interest had been shown on the news at all.

It didn't rain on Tuesday. It didn't rain on Wednesday. And it certainly didn't seem like it was going to rain on Thursday. If she could, Nanako would be glaring at the sun right now, but then she'd burn out her retinas. It was one staring contest she'd lose.

On the plus side, the overwhelming heat left even the guy in glasses with his back drenched in sweat, leading Nanako to discover a new kink.

Anyway, in the attempt to beat the heat after school, Nanako had originally planned to go out with her girlfriend to a cafe, but as it turned out, Saki had to work. Good for her, at least she could enjoy Junes's air conditioning.

Nanako had a backup plan, though: the Velvet Room. It was always nice and cool; maybe Margaret's demeanor kept it that way.

Surprisingly, Marie seemed eager to see her. She was gripping the strap to her handbag tightly, and her eyes were brighter than Nanako remembered seeing before. "You're back!" she said. "Can we go out again? Take me out again!"

"Let me cool off a little first," Nanako requested, fanning herself with a hand. "Did you write anything while I was away? Why don't you show me?"

Marie's excitement flagged a little, but soon enough she was looking through her notebook. "Just... let me find a good one."

"Any will do, honey."

Marie carefully tore a page out along its perforated edge, then handed it to Nanako. Nanako rolled the page up and then began to fan herself with it. When Marie made an indignant sound, she unrolled it with a little 'sorry that was a joke!' laugh.

_Sometimes it's a struggle to get out of the nest_

_Sometimes my feathers are all in disarray_

_Sometimes my cries are totally ignored_

_..._

_Someday it'll be different_

_Someday I'll fly to a distant land_

_Someday I'll be free_

As poetry went, it was a little too short, though that wasn't exactly its main issue. The ending lines held some promise, however: who wouldn't empathize with a desire to be free? Marie had the right idea. Putting it eloquently into words was something she would have to work on.

More importantly, Nanako noticed some doodles at the edge of the paper. The likeness of Igor's bulging eyes and overlong nose was eerily exact.

"What's this?" Nanako asked, pointing at the doodle.

"Oh, that?" Marie's tone was dismissive. "When I'm thinking, sometimes my hand works on its own."

"You did this without thinking about it?" Nanako put a finger to her cheek. "Next time I'm at Junes, I'll pick you up a sketchbook and a better pencil."

"Junes! You said we'd go—take me there!"

Marie's exuberance over Junes reminded Nanako of a certain little boy with a bowl-cut, amusing her entirely too much... and also giving her an idea. With a nod, she held out her hand, intending to grab Marie's, but she found that Marie had beat her to the punch and had grabbed her first! Hand in hand, they exited the Velvet Room.

Outside, the heat wave hit Nanako full force and she immediately regretted not staying in the Velvet Room just a little longer. If she was being dramatic, she'd compare it to a Shadow's Agilao. Maybe that comparison could be used in a poem.

For her part, Marie was blinking her eyes at the sudden brightness, but the heat didn't seem to bother her too much. She shaded her eyes and scanned the horizon. "Where are those balloons?"

"We'll go there soon," Nanako promised, "but first I gotta head home. Do you want to know where I live?"

"Home..." Marie murmured to herself, and for a moment Nanako thought she might trigger another sudden headache, but then she nodded. "Show me where the magic happens!"

Nanako suppressed a laugh. What magic? The only trick she knew was sticking her hand into the TV. Unless she meant... Nanako allowed herself a grin. It was going to be a fun day.

A short while later, Nanako opened the front door to the Seta Residence. Sadly, Souji was still at cram school, but Naoto was sitting at the tea table with the laptop set out in front of him. An electric fan was set on the floor, blowing right at him. When he saw Marie, he smiled to himself. "Ah, I was wondering when we would be introduced."

"What are you talking about, Shirogane-san?" Nanako asked.

"I'd heard some time ago that you were seen with an oddly-dressed individual, but I couldn't narrow down the identity of this individual as someone in our group of compatriots." Naoto stood up and took a short bow. "I am Naoto Shirogane. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Love the hat," Marie said, touching her own. It was a lighter shade of blue than Naoto's and had a longer bill. The golden metal button on it was engraved with the letter V, and Nanako once jokingly thought it stood for 'virgin,' but more likely it meant 'Velvet.' Or maybe it was supposed to be a Roman numeral 5. "I'm Marie. Nice to meet you."

"She's from the Velvet Room!" Nanako said excitedly. "It's real. If you can see her, it's real!"

She'd told Naoto about its existence before, and though Naoto seemed to believe her, he'd also been humorously sarcastic: 'You mean you are serviced by an elderly man with bulging eyes and a long nose alongside a youthful, well-dressed companion...? And this limo, you say the windows are covered? Nanako-san, you need an intervention.'

"Marie, go and pinch him!" Nanako requested. "That way he'll know for sure you're real."

"That won't be necessary," Naoto said. "Marie-san, please tell me more about this Velvet Room."

"Why are you both so interested in that?" Marie crossed her arms much like Yosuke would in the same situation. Well, any situation made Yosuke do that, to be honest. "It's boring and it smells."

"It smells?" Nanako repeated. She'd never noticed a smell before.

"Yeah. I don't know, like, moldy or something."

"Huh." Maybe it was Igor's body odor. He was so otherworldly, like he was older than time itself.

"Nothing happens in that place," Marie continued. "It only gets exciting when you come along. It was annoying, how they suddenly got all animated just for you. But I guess your journey is important to them, or something."

"Sometimes I feel like I'm just a chess piece," Nanako muttered. She'd be the queen, of course. Yukiko would be a bishop, and Chie a knight, and... Kanji maybe a rook? Okay, that analogy was getting a little silly.

But the big question was: who controlled the board?

...On second thought, she didn't want to know.

"I wonder if it's more like a Go board," Naoto remarked. "You think you're ahead, but with one simple move, suddenly you're very much cornered."

Nanako shuddered. That was enough speculation, she decided. She shook her head and then led Marie upstairs to her room.

She'd never had much time to decorate her room. She kinda still lived out of her moving boxes. As such, there wasn't much for Marie to look at. She basically scanned the room with a glance and didn't say anything, poetic or otherwise.

Then suddenly she was moving towards Nanako's open standing closet. She tugged at one of the dresses. "I like this one. You should wear it."

Nanako tilted her head. "No... I think you should!"

"Me?" Marie nearly backed away from the closet in her surprise. When she recovered, she took the dress down from the hanger and held it in front of her body as if to imagine herself wearing it. It was the black and white striped dress that Nanako had worn to Love is Blue with Yosuke.

"Though I would recommend not wearing those striped stockings with it," Nanako said. "That's a bit too much."

"I like my stockings," Marie mumbled, but when Nanako brought out a pair of black ones that she'd been saving for a special occasion, she seemed quite pleased.

Nanako helped her put it all on, and when she was through, Marie looked great! With her thin frame, the horizontal stripes were flattering, and they worked well with the red-and-black striped arm warmers she wore. The splash of color from the blue of the messenger bag she carried completed the ensemble, and the black boots combined with her black stockings were simply icing on the cake.

Working on automatic, Nanako took out her phone to take a picture, then shook her head and put it away. "Let's use the good camera."

"Good camera?" Marie repeated, but Nanako was already pulling her downstairs to the kitchen. She took Aunt Seta's old camera from atop the table and told Marie to smile. The smile she produced was way more awkward and shy than expected, and when the picture was taken, Marie demanded to see the camera and asked how it worked. Nanako was just glad Marie even showed up on the picture preview screen, what with her being from the Velvet Room and all.

While Nanako was showing it off, the front door opened and Souji entered the house. Standing on the threshold, his backpack strapped to his back, he stared openly at Marie, who stared openly back.

Introductions were in order, Nanako supposed. "Marie, this is Souji-kun, my cousin. Sou-chan, this is Marie."

"This is your little cousin?" Marie's stare turned critical. "Why isn't there a bra on his head?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nanako claimed. "There's no way my cute little cousin could really be THE Lieutenant Briefs, hero of ages, wielder of the Wand of Justice. Simply no way."

"I'm not a hero," Souji said quietly, sheepish at the attention he was receiving.

He was blushing big-time, and Nanako wondered why he'd deny that when he hustled to the corner of the room and picked up the kitty headband and put it on.

He then dropped down to all fours and meowed.

"The noble tiger," Marie said appreciatively. "King of the jungle."

"Tiger?" Souji repeated, lifting his head up to look at them. "Big sis, do tigers... meow?"

"Sou-chan, they roar!"

"R-roar..."

His roar sounded so plaintive that Nanako had to hold in her laughter. "I think there can be tigers that meow instead of roar."

"You have stripes," Souji noted while looking at Marie. "Are you... a white tiger?"

"Rare tiger," Nanako said.

"I can roar," Marie said. "Watch me."

When Marie took a deep breath, Nanako rushed forward and covered Souji's ears, wishing she had another pair of hands to cover her own. Marie's roar was powerful enough to wake the dead.

"I... I like meows more," Souji admitted.

"I-I can meow too," Marie defended. She cleared her throat and emitted a very tame meow, after which everyone giggled.

"As amusing as this is," Naoto said from his place at the laptop in the living room, "tigers and other large felines do meow. There does not, in fact, need to be a tiger that can meow, as much as all tigers do meow."

"Is that legit?" Nanako asked. "Huh... I bet Takeyoshi-kun could have told us that."

"He could!" Souji agreed.

While Nanako adjusted the headband on Souji's head since it had fallen down, she came up with a haiku:  
"Tiger prowls softly  
Through the shadowy jungle  
Seeking his next meal."

"I gotta write that down!" Marie said. She began to rummage through her messenger bag. She became increasingly more frustrated as she couldn't find what she wanted. "There's always paper in here. Where'd it all go?"

"You probably used it all," Nanako said.

"No, you don't understand. There's always paper, and pens too. I never run out. Never!"

"Maybe it's because you're in the real world now," Nanako suggested. "If you're going to live in our world, you'll have to live by our rules, y'know? Anyway, since you need to pick up some paper, I think it's the perfect excuse for a trip to Junes! Sou-chan, are you ready to go?"

"Junes?" he repeated. "Y-yeah!"

Nanako took the headband from his head, intending to put it away, but Souji stopped her. With a shy smile, he asked if he could keep wearing it. There was no way she'd deny him that, but she couldn't let it keep falling off his head. With some rubber bands, she adjusted it so that it stayed more securely in place.

"I've found a video of a tiger meowing," Naoto announced. "Would you like to see?"

What a silly question! Moments later they'd all gathered around to watch it. Marie was the most fascinated of them all. "It really does meow. Say, what's that on the side?"

"What, those? More videos," Nanako explained. "When you watch one, the site will recommend others." When Naoto selected one at random, Nanako added, "You can lose hours of your life clicking through them like this."

"L-look, baby tigers!" Souji said excitedly. "Watch that one, please!"

"They're called cubs," Naoto informed him as they watched the tiger cubs playing with their zookeeper.

"Are you a cub or a full-grown tiger?" Nanako asked him.

"I'm... I'm full-grown," he announced without too much hesitation.

Nanako didn't laugh, knowing how important it was to treat a kid with respect, though she dearly wanted to. "Okay, my big tough tiger. I'm ready to go to Junes if you are."

It took some effort to pull Marie and Souji away from the laptop, Marie especially since the technology seemed to speak to her. Nanako wondered if Aunt Seta had another old cell phone she could pass on to Marie. She'd definitely have fun with it. Naoto stayed behind to watch the house (or perhaps more videos).

They weren't even at Junes and Marie could hardly contain her excitement. "Look at those huge balloons! They're like..." - she paused to grope for the words she wanted to use – "giant flying peaches!"

Well, the balloons were orange and yellow, so Nanako gave her that. "You know in some places, people go flying with balloons. It's called hot-air ballooning."

"Can we do that sometime? I want to soar as high as a seagull."

"Maybe when we find an elephant," Nanako promised, knowing that would never happen.

Once inside the store, it was a shopping adventure in every sense of the word. Marie was so easily distracted by every sales sign in the store that it was difficult to keep up with her.

"Buy one, get one boxer shorts!" she squealed in delight. "Wait, I don't need those."

"Go briefs or go home," Nanako agreed. "Here, you should try this on!"

Together they picked out so many outfits to try on that the changing room attendant soon gave up trying to keep track of it all. Little Souji was their judge; he sat on the bench just outside the changing rooms that was reserved for henpecked husbands.

Marie came out of the changing room wearing a flower-patterned blouse and a purple tiered skirt. "This doesn't seem like my style at all."

"M-maybe if the flowers were purple too," Souji suggested meekly.

"Is there a black skirt like this?" Marie asked the attendant. "Black goes with everything."

"You really like black, huh?" Nanako remarked, coming out of her changing room with a red t-shirt and orange short-shorts. Wearing them she felt like she was advertising condiments.

"It has a lot of meaning," Marie said. "In poetry and otherwise."

"The empty space between stars," Nanako said, "the pupil of an eye, the depths of the ocean..."

"It also just looks good on me." Marie grinned while toying with one of her arm warmers. "Doesn't it?"

"I think..." Souji said, and trailed off like he often did when voicing an opinion.

"Yes, oh King of the Jungle?" Nanako prompted.

"Wh-what about... gray?"

Marie considered it. "It's worth a try."

They tried on several more sets of clothes, and Marie conceded that gray was a good color, too, as long as it was a fairly dark shade. Nanako found a nice low-cut top that she knew Saki would love.

After about the tenth skirt, Souji began to get restless, so Nanako decided it was time to find something more interesting for him. It also helped that some middle-aged women came by to use the changing rooms. Souji was obviously relieved when Nanako took his hand and led him away to Junes's small crafts section.

But his happiness was only temporary. Nanako was looking through some notebooks when she felt him clench her skirt in a fist. "What's the matter, honey?" she murmured.

"C-can I... t-take it off?"

She blinked and looked down to find him tugging on his headband. Since she'd rubber-banded it, he couldn't do it himself. Was it irritating him...? She helped him take it off, but it hadn't visibly rubbed his skin raw or anything.

Even with it off, he was suddenly overcome with shyness and buried his face in her skirt. Nanako noticed some ladies gathered together down the aisle. That wasn't odd in Junes, what was odd was that they were whispering to each other and pointing at Souji.

The cute kitty band was attracting attention, apparently. No wonder he wanted it off.

Of course, his hiding from them was even cuter. The women whispered louder, not realizing or not caring that their attention was stressing the boy out.

Nanako set her mouth in determination and intended to go over there and say something, but...

"FLOCK OFF!"

...Marie beat her to it.

The women were so startled by the volume she employed that they left the aisle without a fight.

"Thanks," Nanako said.

"What was their problem, anyway?" Marie said. "He's not a real tiger, or they'd be eaten!"

Souji made a small sound, and Nanako gave him a hug. "How about we go to the food court and have a snack," she suggested. They could all use a breath of fresh air after that.

It wasn't all that busy at the food court, which was probably to be expected this late on a Thursday afternoon. What was unexpected was that Saki and Yosuke were sitting across from each other at the bench table and chatting. Saki was laughing at some joke or something he'd told her. She said something in return, and then he was laughing, too.

Whatever they were talking about, Nanako was happy to see them getting along.

And so was Souji. "P-partner!" he cried, a big fat grin coming to his face.

Yosuke turned on his seat and his smile grew. It was too bad he was wearing a hair net, since it hid his hair's pink streak. Souji's reaction to that would be priceless. "Hey, Souji! It's been a while, huh?"

Unprompted, Souji climbed onto the bench to sit right next to him. Saki's expression was about as bemused as Yosuke's own. "Hello Sou-chan," she said. She noticed Marie following Nanako. "Oh? Who's this?"

Nanako pushed Marie forward. "Guys, meet Marie. She's not from around here."

"I'll say." Yosuke took in Marie's appearance. "Isn't that your dress?"

"That's right," Nanako said. "She's from my closet. Kidding, but yeah, I let her have it."

"Hello," Marie said rather blandly after Nanako introduced her friends to her. She paused, apparently unsure what else to say. Then she blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Are you a baker or something?" she asked Yosuke.

Saki giggled, and Yosuke looked puzzled for an instant before he understood. "Ah, no, this apron is because I work here. I'm on break right now."

"And my break ends in another minute," Saki said with a regretful sigh. "They're way too short. It was nice meeting you, Marie-chan."

"Aww," Nanako said. When Saki headed back to the store, she stopped to give Nanako a quick hug and a peck of a kiss.

"I want to work at Junes," Souji murmured.

"The pay isn't good enough, Souji," Yosuke said. "Trust me."

"But... you work here," he pointed out.

Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. It's a long story."

"You think I could get a job?" Marie asked. She held up the notebook she'd picked out earlier. It had rainbow-colored dolphins on it. "Gotta pay for this somehow."

"It's on me today, Marie," Nanako said, but she wondered what sort of job would be right for Marie. None of her part-time jobs seemed to fit the bill. One of the Velvet Room doors was right at the shopping district, so maybe she could work for Grandma Kujikawa. Nanako was sure they'd get along swimmingly. "We'll think about that later."

Yosuke turned around in his seat to better face Marie, since she was standing a distance away from the bench. "So, where are you from?"

"It's a long story," Nanako evaded, not wanting to explain the Velvet Room to him at that moment. "Anyway, we're here because I promised Sou-chan a snack."

"Yeah? What are you getting?" Yosuke asked. "A root beer float?"

"No," Souji answered. "We're going to have ice cream..."

"A root beer float has ice cream in it," Yosuke pointed out, "but I get you. What flavor?"

"Neo... puh..."

"Featherman flavored ice cream?"

"N-no..."

"It's Neapolitan," Nanako explained.

"I know," Yosuke said. "I'm just teasing. So, vanilla, strawberry, AND chocolate... Which one's your favorite?"

"I like... the strawberry and the vanilla."

"Yeah, when they mix together, it's cool, but with Neapolitan, everything always end up brown and tasting like chocolate, doesn't it?"

"You should eat the chocolate first," Souji advised.

Yosuke patted him on the shoulder and declared that he was very smart.

"I'll take the chocolate," Marie volunteered, and that settled that.

Yosuke had to excuse himself right when the ice cream arrived; his own break had ended. Souji gave him a hug before he left, mimicking what he'd seen Saki do with Nanako. Yosuke didn't really know what to do about a kid wrapped around his legs. Over Souji's head, Nanako gave him the okay, and Yosuke ruffled his fingers through the boy's hair before saying goodbye and extricating himself from his grip.

"Hey, Marie," Nanako said after Yosuke was gone. "Don't look now, but there's an elephant."

"What? Where?!"

Marie stopped prodding her ice cream to face the direction Nanako indicated, and then snorted at the sight. It was the elephant slide in the kids' play area.

"You really had me going there," she said, shaking her head.

"They say elephants never forget," Nanako said. "I bet it remembers you, Sou-chan. Maybe you should say hello?"

"I don't... want to go down it..." Souji murmured.

"That's fine, I won't make—Marie?"

Marie had stood up and was now walking towards the elephant slide. When she reached it, she climbed up the ladder and sat at the top. A minute passed. Was she too scared to slide down? Nanako suspected not. Marie seemed to be lost in thought.

Then Marie climbed down. "You can feel the wind up there," she reported, "and the breeze is nice, but the sun is just too hot."

"The plastic burned you through the dress?"

Marie nodded. "It's no wonder no kids are around. Maybe they should add a pool."

"The ice cream," Souji piped up from the table. "It's melting..."

After finishing their tasty snack, Nanako was reminded of one of the other reasons she'd wanted to come to Junes: to get prints of the pictures she'd taken of Souji and his classmates in the gym at Yasogami High. She planned to send them to his teacher as an adorable memento. 

They went to Junes' self-service printing area to get it done. As the pictures came out of the printer, Marie commented, "That looks like it was a lot of fun."

Nanako held up the picture of a trio of grinning first graders hugging the rubber balls they'd used in the presentation. "It was, wasn't it, Sou-chan?"

Marie picked up the next picture, a group photo of Nanako surrounded by what might have been the entire class. "The kids are flocking to you like you're their mom or something."

"My little ducklings," Nanako murmured. She was too young to be a mom, of course, but she did feel protective of every child she met. Yuuta was a case-in-point. How could she not love them when they were just so young and innocent? Well, maybe not completely innocent, she amended, thinking of Ta-kun's worldliness. He was going to be trouble later, she could tell. His mom would have her hands full.

"I wonder," Marie said, "if kids would like me...?"

"Well," Nanako said, "there's only one way to find out! I'm going to the daycare this Saturday. Maybe you can come along?"

"That'd be awesome," Marie said.

"Then I'll pick you up before I go!"

It was a plan. Nanako hummed to herself, quite satisfied with the day, and as the last picture printed out, she felt her bond with Marie grow stronger. It gave her pause; she hadn't felt any of her other social links do this in quite some time.

She shrugged the feeling away. It had never been that important to her in the first place.

* * *

[9/30: Friday]

The rain arrived just as the weather report had predicted. Nanako went to the gas station, expecting to see Izaya enjoying it as he always did, but he wasn't in sight.

Under the awning she found a car with all of its doors wide open. Its trunk was popped open, too. Since there was no one at all around, the sight was odd. It was almost like someone had abandoned it here after a bank robbery or something.

Nanako approached the vehicle warily, unsure if she should even be getting near it. It wasn't a new model, maybe a decade old or so. Aunt Seta would turn up her nose at it.

She was eyeing the driver's seat when she heard a muffled curse coming from the direction of the convenience store. She turned and saw Izaya struggling to pull a wet/dry vacuum behind him. Its wheels were sticking, making him tug so hard on the hose that the whole thing ran over his foot.

"Do you need some help?" Nanako asked mildly.

Izaya saw her, then flashed teeth in something that was half-grin and half-snarl. "Find an outlet for this," he requested, handing her the plug to the vacuum. It was attached to an extension cord.

She found an outlet inside the convenience store behind a shelf and plugged it in, nearly jumping at the electricity that zapped across the plug and the socket before she'd got it all the way in. It was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

She returned to the parked car to find Izaya wiping sweat from his brow. With a sigh he began to exchange the vacuum's hose attachment to one that had a larger nozzle.

"I didn't know we did auto detailing," she remarked.

"They say that the customer is always right." He glared at the car, making his thoughts on that phrase crystal clear.

"Your sales pitch still needs some work. Don't worry, I'll help."

She took over vacuuming the car's interior while Izaya cleaned the windows. He didn't do a great job cleaning the outer side of the windows, and Nanako didn't call him out for it. It was raining anyway, so the windows would just get ruined again as soon as the customer took the car back.

The work was more intense than she'd expected, and by the time she was done using the vacuum, she understood why Izaya hadn't been enthusiastic about the job. Her arms were sore from manipulating the hose into the car's every little crevice and her back had a kink in it from bending over so much. By the time they were through, she needed the can of green tea Izaya offered her as refreshment.

She fell onto the bench by the garage. "If I never clean out a car again, it'll be too soon," she told him. The rain falling on her was refreshing and helped cool her off more than the green tea did.

"When you live in a big city, you have no need for a car," Izaya said, taking the spot next to her.

"One of my friends has a scooter. Maybe I should invest in one."

"It might be nice to feel the wind in your hair."

"Yeah," she said, "but I'm the type to always wear a helmet." She let her hair down now; she'd had to tie it back since it'd kept getting in her face during the vacuuming.

"Safety first?" he asked, one eyebrow upraised.

She nodded.

"So you're no longer going to rush headlong into things?" He sounded skeptical. "I wonder if you've changed that much."

"Look," she said with feeling, "when it comes to something simple like wearing a seatbelt or a helmet, there's absolutely no reason not to. It's a well-known fact that scooters and motorcycles get into accidents more often than other vehicles, and that helmets substantially reduce the injuries that result. I mean, they're not always the difference between life and death, but in some cases, they totally are."

When she was done with her spiel, she realized that Izaya was giving her a funny look. He didn't say anything or even seem to be ready to say anything until she sent him an annoyed look.

"That's not what I was talking about," he finally admitted.

"What did you—" she began, but stopped because he was chuckling.

"You're so interesting, Nanako," he said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Am I one of the people you people-watch?"

He leaned his head back in mild surprise. "Ah, well, I watch many people in this town," he defended all too feebly.

"I hope you get some entertainment value out of it." She sighed.

"Don't worry, Nanako. Out of all the humans I have observed, you are the one with the most mileage."

"Well I am all the way from Tokyo, after all," Nanako responded on automatic. When Izaya began to chuckle, she grinned slowly, recognizing in that moment that it was a double-entendre. She punched him playfully in the arm and giggled herself.

"Speaking of Tokyo," she murmured. "I'm suddenly reminded of my trip here. When I was waiting for the train, I'd seen some people watching an ad for Quelorie Magic. You know all those ads Risette does that are just this side of risque."

"Ah, what's the tagline? All of the flavor, none of the weight... something like that."

"What I'm getting at is that, from those ads, no one would imagine that Risette is actually a smart and kind person in real life."

"Are you really one to talk about judging books by their cover?" Izaya said, hiding a grin behind his spindly fingers.

Nanako shook her head. "That's not what I meant, and I think you know that."

Izaya didn't say anything, though he radiated curiosity. He watched her not like a hawk and its prey, but closely all the same.

"You," she said. "You get me. You got me first out of all my friends. I think that says something. I'm not sure what exactly, but something."

Izaya stopped hiding his smile, allowing it to grow into a full-on grin. "I must confess something," he said. "You recall how you said that you feel calm around me?"

"Yes?"

"...I feel the same around you."

* * *

[10/1: Saturday]

The weather report hadn't been mistaken. It was pouring buckets when Nanako arrived at the central shopping district. She was happy to enter the Velvet Room and get out of the rain. It wasn't all that different from how she'd escaped the heat the other day, come to think of it.

"Marie~" Nanako sang. "I'm going to the daycare, wanna come along?"

Marie shook her head slowly.

Nanako frowned, then noticed that Marie was definitely not looking very good. She was paler than usual, like she might have a fever. "Are you all right? Maybe we should go to the doctor instead."

"I'll... be all right..." Marie said quietly. "Today is just not a good day. I have to stay here."

"Your existence is wavering?" Nanako remembered that Marie had used that phrase once before. The last time it happened, though, Marie had seemed to be in perfect health.

"Yeah," Marie said.

"Margaret?" Nanako asked.

Margaret had a troubled frown on her face. "I do not know the cause, but I believe it has to do with the fact that she is not from your world."

Nanako considered it. Marie had been out for longer than ever before when they'd gone to Junes. Maybe after that adventure, she needed to recharge for a while. Wasn't there a ghost story that went like that?

"What about you, Margaret?" Nanako asked. "Are you able to leave the Velvet Room?"

Margaret blinked, and a playful grin came to her face. "That should remain a secret."

Nanako grinned back at her. She and Margaret had come to an understanding after she'd fused that Soma. Margaret was a strong personality, for sure, but she was all right.

"But as for Marie..." Margaret's expression turned serious. "It's a mystery we are hoping you might solve."

"The next time she can leave here, I'll look into it," Nanako promised. "For now, Marie, just try to relax? If you need more paper or pens, let me know now."

Marie managed the ghost of a smile. "I'm all right, thanks. Have fun with the kids for me."

Nanako left the Velvet Room. In the far distance, thunder rumbled, mirroring her troubled mood. The number of mysteries she had to solve just kept piling up, and this one in particular made her uneasy. Marie's problems had to stem from her forgotten past. The only other being Nanako knew who'd wanted to know more about his past... Well, his mysteries would never be solved.

For better or for worse, the downpour calmed into a steady drizzle by the time she reached the daycare. She forced a smile onto her face and entered the building, but soon enough the sight of the children playing turned it into something far more genuine. She hadn't seen them in so long!

"Nana-chan! Nana-chan!" several kids chanted, running circles around her.

"It's a good thing you're well enough to work," the caretaker remarked. "We could really use the help."

That fact was obvious by the way the kids tugged on her from all directions while she was trying to get her work apron on. She bent forward slightly in a vague attempt to reach their height. She swept her arms forward, catching several of them in a big hug. "I've missed you all too, don't you doubt it!"

With that, the caretaker left Nanako in charge, presumably to take a really long break. Nanako didn't mind. She had things under control. Maybe. A little boy and a little girl were already fighting over an action figure, and Yuuta kept spinning around in circles apparently just to see how long it would take to make himself get dizzy and fall over. Souji's role was apparently to steady him when he began to fall.

Normally the rain meant it was an indoors day, but the kids were full of such boundless energy that a movie wouldn't be enough to keep their attention, no matter how new or exciting it was.

"Miss, Miss!" A little boy missing his front teeth began to tug on her apron. "I wan'... I wan'... I wan'..."

"What do you want?" Nanako asked him with the patience of a stone.

"I wan'... anover cubber..."

"Another what?"

Though the kid repeated it several times, Nanako just couldn't decipher his words. She was lucky that Souji spoke so clearly! It was only until another child told her that 'it' was on the table that she figured out what 'it' was: a cupcake. As it turned out, one of the mothers had left a whole box of chocolate cupcakes for the kids. And that was the answer to the mystery of why the kids were so hyper today—they were all on a sugar high.

With all that energy, the kids needed to be let loose, but of course they couldn't be let outside in the rain unprotected. Nanako improvised a solution. She found the supply closet and a box of trash bags. With a pair of scissors, she began to cut the bags to create ponchos for the kids to wear. When putting them over the kids' heads, she made sure their entire head went through the hole she'd made for it. Safety above all! The suffocation hazard warnings could not be ignored.

"I can fly!" one of the kids said, waving his poncho'd arms around like they were big wings.

"I bet I can fly faster than you!" a girl challenged him, and soon it was a race across the room. Boundless energy—they weren't even outside yet!

"Sou-chan, come on," Nanako said, motioning him forward. Souji had held back earlier, letting Yuuta get suited up first, but now it was his turn. With a shy little grin, he stepped forward and held his arms out while Nanako covered him up with the plastic bag. She couldn't resist giving him a hug.

When Nanako opened the door after suiting up the last kid, they all raced outside like a herd of beasts. They were just so excited to be allowed to play in the rain. Souji jogged along after his playmates, but he slowed and turned back to Nanako. "Big sis... what about you?" he asked.

"Huh? What about me?"

"You're getting all wet."

She'd completely forgotten to put a bag over herself. The idea hadn't even occurred to her. Izaya was totally rubbing off on her. If only he was here, though he'd probably be arrested if he so much as thought about getting this close to kids. He'd have loved to see her getting soaked like this.

In fact, there wasn't anything particularly special to do outside except get wet. There wasn't any mud; even the grass in Inaba was boring! There were, however, worms coming up through the dirt near the sidewalk. One little girl picked up one the of these wriggling things, and two other girls went 'Eww!' at her and made disgusted sounds. Nanako determinedly strode over there and picked up a snail wandering across the sidewalk.

"There's nothing bad about slimy things!" she declared. "They won't make you sick or anything. You can play with them if you want to!" She held up the snail. "This little guy is my assistant, and we'll see how long it takes him to get to the other side. Make sure no one steps on him!"

That preoccupied some of the kids, at least until they got bored of it. She gave a group of boys a rubber ball to play with, warning them to be careful not to slip on the wet grass when they chased after it. It was harder for the kids to pick up and hold onto the rubber ball when it was so slippery from being wet. She used this as a learning lesson by asking them why they thought this happened.

"Because it's wet," Yuuta said. It was an answer worthy of Takeyoshi-kun, and Nanako couldn't help but laugh.

Checking up on the worm-loving girl and her friends, Nanako saw that someone had found a second snail and apparently the two were racing. Or they would be if the snails weren't going in completely opposite directions. She told the kids not to encourage the snails too much and left them to it.

On the side of the daycare building, a group of kids discovered the drainpipe that let out the rain collected from the roof. They were having fun trying to stop the flow of water from it with their hands. Nanako had them throw some leaves into the stream and watch how far the leaves went.

Returning to the main yard, Nanako found that Yuuta and the ball-playing kids were now reenacting some scenes from the Featherman TV show. "You watch Featherman now, Yuu-kun?" she asked in surprise.

"Y-yeah," he answered. "I watch it every Saturday in my room!"

Nanako fist-pumped into the air. Finally Minami-san was making progress at being a good mom.

"I watch it... with big sis!" Souji declared, grinning up at Nanako and then impulsively giving her a hug.

"No fair," a girl declared. "I want her to be my big sis!"

Nanako held out her arm and waved her forward. "Come on, you can have a hug too. I think Sou-chan can share."

Souji paused before declaring, "Y-yeah...!"

Nanako patted both kids on the head and then told them to try and catch the rain on their tongues. While she watched them play, she contemplated how much Souji had changed in the time she'd known him. He wouldn't even play dress-up with the other kids just a few months ago, and here he was playing ball and make-believe with them now. He didn't mind that she was here, crashing his daycare, and in fact wanted her there.

It stopped raining. Nanako looked up when she noticed that, and saw a rainbow arcing across the sky. "Look, look!" she said, pointing at it.

"Woooooowwwwww," the kids cried.

"Can you name all the colors in the rainbow?" Nanako asked to make it a learning moment.

She began to sing a song about the colors of the rainbow, remembering how she'd sung the very same song to Souji so long ago. If only he'd brought the Loveline umbrella today! The sun began to peek through the clouds, though, rendering it unnecessary anyway.

"Mommy's here!"

Nanako blinked and looked around. Sure enough, the daycare manager was coming out of the building, bringing along the first set of parents coming to pick up their children. Playtime was over, though the remaining children continued to run around in the yard, and Nanako continued to keep them company. The kids would recognize their family when they arrived, anyway.

Some time later, there were only a few kids left. Yuuta, Nanako knew, would be one of the last to leave since his stepmom was always late. Not unlike Aunt Seta, really, though Nanako could take Souji home now at any time if she wanted.

"Big sis!" a boy shouted, and for a moment Nanako thought he meant her, but in fact he was directing his attention to a girl about Nanako's age. Some of these kids had to have siblings, she realized. This 'big sis' was playing with her phone while the daycare manager double-checked her name against the list.

 _I suppose I can't be the ONLY big sister in this town... but clearly I'm the best one,_ Nanako thought, smiling smugly to herself.

The girl glanced at her over the phone as if to ask, 'What's your problem?'

Of course, Nanako had too many problems to name, and in fact began to mentally list them in her head when the other girl gasped, looking past her. Nanako turned around just in time to see Yuuta trip over his untied shoe. His arms flailed as he tried to keep his balance, but he was unable to stop himself from landing headfirst on the ground.

Nanako hissed in sympathy, and when Yuuta began to wail, she began to move forward, but the boy was several feet away. So far, in fact, that someone else beat her to it.

Souji.

Souji patted Yuuta's shoulder until the boy looked up at him. Then he cupped Yuuta's head in his hands, leaned forward, and kissed him on his forehead, right on the spot he'd hurt. He was kissing it better.

Yuuta's wails subsided into sniffles. When he wiped his eyes a moment later, he stopped crying altogether and sent his friend a grateful smile.

Too. Precious. It took all of Nanako's self-control not to squeal. She did, however, have to make sure Yuuta was okay so she went over there and fussed over him herself. He had a nice bump growing on his head, but it wasn't bleeding or anything, so he was probably okay.

"Big sis, can Yuu-kun come home with us?" Souji asked while she was still rubbing Yuuta's head. "And... and stay the night?"

Nanako almost replied automatically with a 'sure,' but it wasn't entirely up to her. "Only if Yuu-chan's mom says it's okay. And Yuu-chan has to ask her himself!"

"Awwwww," Yuuta whined, pulling away from her. "Do I gotta?"

"You gotta," Nanako said, nodding her head.

Yuuta sighed in an exaggerated way, and then said, "Okay."

Of course that would only happen when Minami finally arrived to pick him up. While waiting for her, Nanako asked Souji and Yuuta to help clean up by collecting all the discarded makeshift ponchos and putting them in the trash.

But to Nanako's surprise, instead of being dead last, there were still a few other kids waiting for their guardians when Minami showed up. "Yuu-kun," Minami called. "Are you ready to go?"

"Actually, Mom!" he said. Then he realized what he'd just said and his cheeks turned all red. "I-I mean, Minami-san... I wanna go home with Sou-chan!"

"What else do you need to say, Yuu-chan?" Nanako prompted.

He blinked. "P-please?"

Minami mulled it over. "I guess it's all right." She addressed Nanako. "When do you want me to pick him up?"

Nanako hashed out the details with her, and soon enough she was taking both of the boys home to the Seta Residence. Naoto had not been expecting company, but he wasn't exactly surprised to see Yuuta, and at least they'd met before after the beach trip. And now that Yuuta was better-versed in Featherman lore, they had so much to talk about! In fact, Souji took out one of several volumes of the manga Naoto had purchased and all three ended up sitting on the floor in Souji's room to read it together.

Aunt Seta came home while they were still reading, bringing takeout she'd picked up for dinner. Nanako had texted her about Yuuta's presence so he wasn't left out. While they ate, though, somehow the conversation turned to dessert, and Nanako lamented the fact they had none.

"You still have some cookie mix," Naoto pointed out. "But I suppose it's getting late to bake."

"It's never too late for cookies!" Nanako declared. "Err... if it's okay with you, Aunt Seta."

"Please," Aunt Seta said. "Just save some for me."

"We have the best cookie-cutters," Souji told Yuuta.

"I wanna see!" Yuuta requested, and then Nanako was getting out all the ingredients and telling the boys how they could best help her make a batch of cookies.

In the process, however, the bag of flour fell off the counter and onto Yuuta, caking him with a fine layer and ruining his clothes.

Yuuta looked like he might cry again, this time out of embarrassment. The poor boy kept looking between Nanako and Aunt Seta, expecting to be punished or reprimanded somehow, so Nanako went and screamed:

"Aunt Seta, we got a ghost in the house!"

Now the ball was in her court. Nanako had no idea how her aunt might react; she was certainly cool, but she only ever joked when Adachi was in the room, which in hindsight was a pretty obvious—

"That won't do," Aunt Seta said suddenly. "Ghosts are not allowed in the house. Sou-chan, you must catch it."

Now smiling from ear to ear, Souji pounced on his friend like a ferocious, 2 foot tall werecat, covering himself in flour.

Long story short, the boys needed a bath.

But not before they baked ghost cookies. Aunt Seta volunteered to watch the oven. Maybe she was in a good mood? Whatever the case, they started having fun the moment Yuuta lost his shirt. Nanako hauled them out of the kitchen and into the bathroom stat, but once there, they were surprised by a wild Naoto in the bathtub.

"Oh!" Nanako exclaimed. "Cover your eyes, kids!"

"It is quite alright," Naoto said, smiling softly. No, more than that, his smile was... peaceful. Nanako hadn't seen him wear that expression before, and silence filled the room as she admired it.

"Um... big sis... can we look now?" Souji's tiny voice asked, hands still covering his eyes. Yuuta too. Not what Nanako would have done at their age, that's for sure.

Nanako looked at the detective once more, and he simply nodded. "Yeah, you can look now."

Nanako watched carefully for Yuuta's reaction. Wide eyes scanning back and forth, a slight shifting of weight from one leg to the other—but his mouth was set in a grim line, like he was determined not to say anything stupid.

"I thought you only had one big sis," he said, after a few seconds.

"I do," Souji answered firmly, a rare thing for him.

"I suspect this must be quite complicated for you, Yuuta-kun," Naoto said, looking at him kindly.

"But I thought this was your big bro?"

"I am," Naoto answered, sharing a look with Souji, then a smile.

"You remember when I said some girls liked both boys and girls?" Nanako asked. "Well, some girls don't like being girls. Some girls feel wrong. These girls might not know what they should be or how they should feel, not for a good while."

"I don't like being a boy sometimes," Yuuta said, fidgeting a little bit. Nanako raised her eyebrows, surprised, but decided not to confuse the boy further by getting into it.

"Naoto here decided that until he figures it out, he'd rather be a boy," she continued, "and to us, he is."

"I guess that makes sense," the boy said as the fidgeting passed.

"Big bro is big bro," Souji offered, shrugging slightly, and Yuuta seemed to accept that.

"Now," said the detective prince, "I believe we have a mystery on our hands. These two innocent boys seem to have been turned into ghosts."

Yuuta giggled.

It was a nice bath.

When it came to be time for bed, the rain outside meant it was cold like it was supposed to be, which meant Yuuta couldn't just sleep in his underwear like last time. On the upside, Souji had this set of adorable footie PJs that fit his friend like a glove, and as always, big bro and sis both took a copious amount of pictures. Subtly, of course.

Since they were exhausted from their exciting day playing outside, it was easy to put them to sleep. Really, Nanako thought, all the parents should thank her for tiring the kids out so much. Anyway, like last time, Yuuta shared Souji's futon. It was cute to see them side-by-side like that. Yuuta was on his back with his mouth wide open. Souji was cuddling Foxy next to him, and his breath kept hitting Yuuta's hair, making it blow this way and that.

"Are you going to head to bed now, too?" Nanako whispered to Naoto as they watched the children sleep.

"It's only a little longer before the Midnight Channel," Naoto said. "We should both watch it."

Nanako tried to tune out Yuuta's snoring to hear the rain and determined that it was steady. Steady enough to last until midnight, hopefully—especially since they'd set up a VCR in Nanako's room to record what appeared on the TV. No longer would they rely solely on Yosuke's shaky hand to record it on his phone, nor would they have only a single snapshot of the TV screen to go on. Nanako only wished she'd thought of this before, especially when Yukiko's Shadow had been on so long ago. Lacy unmentionables, heh heh...

"Rise-san is having a good time," Naoto remarked while they waited for midnight in Nanako's room. "She's still far from Inaba. I suspect the Midnight Channel will have given up on her by now."

"She's definitely not been on the news at all," Nanako agreed. "But neither has anyone else. The town's been so quiet." Too quiet, Nanako wanted to add, but that was too dramatic even to her sensibilities.

"Everyone's already forgotten the Tofu Shop Incident," Naoto said. "But I can't blame them. Nothing came of it, after all."

"It was news for a week." Nanako sighed. Adachi-san had refused to be interviewed on TV regarding the incident, so he was probably safe, though his statement had been circulated in the newspaper. Nanako began to snicker. If the whole situation revolved around newspapers instead of TV, would it be called the Midnight Edition?

Naoto ignored her snickering, correctly identifying that it wasn't about anything important, to focus on turning on the VCR. They'd decided to start it recording early so that there wasn't any chance of fumbling it and missing the show.

"On the one hand," Nanako said, "I hope nothing's on so we don't have anything to worry about, but on the other hand..."

"This waiting game is starting to become tedious, yes," Naoto agreed. "Every day that passes with the murderer free increases the likelihood that he will never be caught."

Nanako opened her phone to check the clock. She wondered idly if Yosuke was sitting in his room, ready to watch it as well.

The next few minutes passed painfully slowly, and during them Nanako kept one ear on the rain. It remained steady.

The TV clicked on with the sound of static. Nanako held her breath, aware that Naoto next to her was doing the same.

A silhouette appeared on the screen, but it was so blurry and indistinct that she couldn't tell the person's age or even their gender. Who is it? she wondered. If only the static could clear up for just a second...!

She blinked. For a moment, she thought she'd seen something familiar through the static, but it was so small and distant that she couldn't name it.

And then the silhouette was gone, and the TV turned off.

Nanako and Naoto looked at each other. Naoto spoke first. "That was rather fruitless."

"We can only hope the killer hasn't a damn clue who it is either," Nanako said. "Still, I thought I saw something... Well, we recorded it, so we can watch it as many times as we want."

Naoto nodded. "Yes. In fact, I'd like to take the recording to the police station in the morning. They have special programs to deal with security camera footage and make them clearer. I can try it on this, and convert it to a digital version in the process."

It sounded good to Nanako. With that, she bid Naoto a good night and went to bed.

* * *

[10/2: Sunday]

Yuuta didn't have anything to wear the next day, so Nanako just let him keep wearing the footie PJs. He could borrow some of Souji's play clothes, but where was the fun in that?

As befitting of a lazy Sunday morning, they spent it watching cartoons and eating gummi snacks. Both Souji and Yuuta sang the Featherman theme song, alternating the lines like it was a duet. During the show, Nanako texted Chie that training was out for the day since she was babysitting.

After the shows, they went to Nanako's room and played dress-up with her clothes so that Yuuta could have a costume for Colonel Carnation. She made sure it contained as much pink as she could possibly manage, including some of her own lacy unmentionables. He wore these on his arms, making them resemble Marie's arm warmers.

Nanako introduced Yuuta to all of her stuffed animals, including, of course, Princess Chan-chan, the big purple bunny. When Yuuta hugged the plushie, it lasted a long time, and he stroked the soft fabric over and over again, probably without even realizing he was doing it. She could tell the kid needed it. She'd have to convince Minami to buy him a giant plushie of his own sometime!

They continued to play with the stuffed animals until late in the afternoon. Foxie was the rapscallion that she always was, this time stealing one of Chan-chan's ribbons and then being teleported to a whole other world as punishment by the Wand of Justice.

At some point, a knock on the door interrupted their play. It was Yuuta's stepmom come to take him home. It was actually a little later in the day than Nanako had planned, but she didn't mind; they'd been having so fun that she hadn't realized the time anyway. Yuuta was still wearing his Colonel Carnation costume, and when Minami saw him in it, she couldn't help but smile (though she tried to hide it behind her hand).

"I see that you had fun, Yuu-kun," she remarked.

"No I didn't!" Yuuta replied vehemently.

"No?" Minami asked. "You had no fun at all?"

Yuuta crossed his arms, accidentally pulling off a pair of underwear in the process. He nodded. "No fun."

Yuuta maintained his stance for a good ten seconds before both he and his stepmom began laughing. Apparently they were sharing a private joke of some sort. Though she didn't get it, Nanako was glad to see them getting along so well.

"Ah, I'll get him changed," Nanako said when they'd both calmed down. A few minutes later Yuuta was back in his old clothes and on the threshold, holding his stepmom's hand.

"All right, Yuu-kun, are you ready to go?" Minami asked.

"Yeah..."

"Did you thank them for having you over?"

"'Course I did," he said, but then he followed it up with, "Thanks, Souji! And big sis!"

"Silly goose," Nanako thought out loud. "Oh, don't forget to give your mom some of those cookies!"

His eyes widening, Yuuta rushed to the kitchen to grab a plastic bag full of cookies they'd prepared earlier for him to bring home. Minami took the bag from him, held it up to the light, and remarked that they looked delicious.

And then they were off... leaving Nanako and Souji with a messy house to clean! Souji was low-maintenance, but Yuuta was a bit more energetic. When playing with Nanako's plushies, he often picked them up and then left them at random places all over the room based on his whim or whether something else had distracted him. Not only that, he'd gotten into her Loveline manga so she also had to reorder the books on her shelf.

The sheets to Souji's futon had to be resettled since the boys had shifted them during their sleep. While she was putting the pillow back in the pillowcase, Souji held up something pink. "Yuu-kun left these!" he said.

They were a pair of briefs. Nanako hadn't noticed at all during bath time, but they were definitely pink. Was Minami also shopping at Junes? And when had she discovered the boy's favorite color? Nanako shook her head with a smile and put the underwear in the laundry bin. They'd sort it out to return to him later.

By the time they were finished cleaning up both rooms, it was evening. Aunt Seta was still away, having been called in to do something for work—Nanako hadn't asked for details—even though it was a Sunday. Since there hadn't been any word from her, Nanako and Souji simply ate some leftovers in the fridge for dinner.

While she was cleaning up the dishes, she noticed that although they'd swept up the flour disaster yesterday, there were specks of white here and there on the floor; obviously they'd missed some. She took the broom out of the closet and began to sweep the dust into a pile, and Souji, darling boy that he was, volunteered to help. She gave him a brush and a dustpan and told him to get to work while she finished up the dishes.

They were still cleaning when there was a knock on the door. Souji perked up from where he was bent over the floor. "Mama?"

Nanako patted him on the head on the way to the front door. It was Saki! Nanako looked her girlfriend up and down—she was wearing a red dress and matching flats. "Well, well, well," Nanako said with a purr, "this is exactly what I'd ordered."

Except that the worried look on Saki's face meant this wasn't a sugoi booty call. "Nanako," Saki said, stepping forward, "there's something you need to know about."

"What's up?" Nanako asked, turning serious in an instant. 

Saki removed her shoes and followed Nanako into the kitchen, where she paused at the sight of Souji on the floor. She stared at him for a moment, then looked at Nanako, who wondered if it was something too serious for the boy to overhear. Then Saki shook her head slightly and spoke in a whisper. "Souji-kun, he..." she began, then stopped, as if finding the words she wanted to say was difficult.

In the end, she gave up entirely, instead taking out her phone and showing its screen to Nanako. She navigated a few menus before arriving at a video. Nanako's eyes narrowed as she focused on it.

She recognized the auditorium: it was Yasogami High's gym. And on the stage was... Oh! It was Souji's elementary class! Apparently someone had taken a video of the presentation and uploaded it to the Internet.

She looked at Saki, who continued to look worried. "Yeah?" she queried.

"Look at the comments," Saki said.

'inaba's best and brightest'

'raining cats and dogs lol'

'I had to do this when I was in elementary too'

'Who is the boy with gray hair? He's adorable'  
→ 'you think he's cute here? Look at this!'

From the timestamp, the last comment was from only 20 or so hours ago. Frowning, Nanako followed the link and another video played. Souji and Yuuta were in a grassy field. Yuuta was crying and then Souji kissed his head.

"Oh, this happened yesterday," she said. "At the daycare. But why is there a video of it?"

She remembered that other girl with a cellphone who'd come to pick up her little brother.

"That's rude," Nanako thought out loud. "I mean, a video of their school presentation, sure, but Sou-chan and Yuu-chan were just playing. She didn't even know them."

"Only yesterday?" Saki's voice was a disbelieving hush. "But look how many views it has!"

There were thousands of views. Nanako stared. A silly video of her little cousin had gone viral overnight. It seemed like everyone in Inaba had seen it, and then some.

There was a knock on the door. Souji lifted his head once again. "I'll get it," he volunteered. "Mama should be home."

Nanako nodded at him and went back to the previous video to re-read the comments.

Cats and dogs, huh... The timestamp on that comment was a few days ago, and she recognized the commenter's name as a student in her own class. Those kids she'd heard laughing before school that day hadn't been watching a cat video—they'd been watching this.

And those women at Junes who'd been pointing at Souji when he'd been wearing his cat ears. They must have recognized him from the video.

When she heard the lock from the front door click open, the gears clicked into place in her head. A wave of apprehension came over her.

"No," Nanako whispered, moving into a sprint towards the door, but it was too late.

The masked deliveryman grabbed Souji, who let out only a squeak before his mouth was covered by a gloved hand.

Nanako screamed. The kidnapper turned and ran. "D-don't follow me!" he shouted behind him, rushing down the front walkway towards a parked moving van.

Nanako chased him as fast as she could. The van's back door was wide open. There was a massive TV inside. Without pausing, the kidnapper pushed Souji towards it.

"No!" Nanako cried, launching herself desperately at the man, but he scrambled forward at the same time so she only got ahold of his pants leg. He kicked her hard in the face with the heel of his boot. Blood welled in her mouth as her teeth cut on her lip. Heedless of the pain, she held on for dear life. Not her life, but Souji's.

"I'll save him," the kidnapper growled. "You won't stop me." He kicked again, trying to pry her off his leg.

She hissed in pain. "Give him back, you bastard!"

But Nanako's weight on his legs was not enough to keep him from reaching the TV. Souji's body disappeared through the screen. The killer kicked her one last time before he pulled himself up and over the edge of the TV's screen, escaping into it.

"Senpai!" Nanako shouted, brushing away the blood on her face. "Get the others!"

The last thing she heard was her name.

Falling into the TV World was different this time, possibly because it wasn't the Junes TV she'd entered and possibly because a dungeon of some sort was forming around her as she descended. Not that Nanako could see her surroundings very well through her rage and tears.

She landed hard on her back, hardly noticing the pain.

"Souji!" she cried out. Maybe she had landed close to him, or maybe he would wake up, or something, anything.

Nothing. No response, she couldn't see or hear a thing. Souji was all alone in this darkness, and so was she.

Nanako was crying. There was nothing she could do about this. No glasses, and she realized when she pulled herself to her feet, no shoes either. Maybe her eyes would adjust once she stopped crying, but her thoughts kept darting back to Souji, her baby boy, her darling child, he didn't deserve any of this. This shouldn't be happening, not to him, not to anyone, but especially not to him.

Souji... why...

It took her some time to calm down enough. It shouldn't be happening, but it was happening. She wiped her eyes and bloody lip on her blouse. There was something she could do. Only she could rescue Souji now, and first she'd have to find him.

Nanako took a step forward and the wooden floor creaked under her feet. Though she paused, hoping she hadn't alerted any Shadows to her presence, it was actually a relief to hear a sound other than her sobs. Listening carefully, she could also hear a howling in the distance; she hoped it was only the wind.

Anyway, there was a floor, which meant there were walls too. Nanako found one and kept her hand on it as an anchor while she walked along. Rounding the corner, she found a room illuminated by a faint blue light, a dining room of some sort. There was something familiar about it, but she didn't have the time to contemplate. Everything in it was much bigger than it should be, she noticed that much. The table was as tall as she was, she had to step on the tips of her toes just to peer over it. There was a shoebox on it, too far for her to reach.

All of a sudden, the shadows in the room moved. Nanako's heart pounded. Instinctively, her hand moved to the strap on her leg, where she kept that combat knife. Maybe she wasn't completely unprepared. However, she soon found the shadows weren't moving on their own, but rather it was the light source... not that that was any less frightening.

As she focused on the light source, she discovered that it was a bright blue butterfly. "What are you doing here?" she whispered.

The butterfly danced in the air as if answering her, and then flew towards the door at the far end of the room. She followed it, not wanting to be left in darkness. The next area was a winding corridor. The butterfly flew aimlessly through it, but Nanako didn't mind so much. Its presence was calming in this dark place. Perhaps sensing this, it fluttered around her head, reminding her of the one that had alighted on Souji's nose by the river during Golden Week, and before she knew it, she was smiling at its attention.

It doubled back, flying behind her, and she turned around to follow. Soon it alighted on a windowsill that she didn't remember being there before. It flexed its wings open and shut, relaxing. It really was very pretty. She thought she could see a pattern on its wings.

She was still watching it when the window shattered into thousands of fragments, some grazing her in their flight. The glass was followed by a massive, scaly arm—the Shadow that had destroyed the window was now after her. 

Nanako jumped back to avoid being snatched, slamming herself hard into the wall behind her. She called on Izanami to defend her, but as the Persona appeared, bathing the area in blue light, there was suddenly nothing for it to attack. There was no sign of the Shadow she was sure she'd seen, and when she blinked her eyes, the window was no longer broken. 

The butterfly winked out of existence. In the ensuing darkness, Nanako slid down against the wall, gasping for her breath, her heart pounding in her ears. She shouldn't have gone into the TV World without her friends for backup. She hoped so hard that Saki was gathering them, because at this rate, she would need to be rescued as much as Souji.

Thinking of her cousin brought back some strength. She gathered her energy and stood up on shaky legs. A scraping sound to her right caught her attention, but without any light, she couldn't see anything, and the sound soon stopped. She glared into the darkness, feeling helpless. She couldn't rely only on her hearing like this—she needed to see. She remembered the light from Izanami, but none of her Personas could remain summoned for very long. She would exhaust herself if she continuously brought them out just to use them for light.

The card itself, though, also produced light. She wondered if it was possible to keep the card out without actually bringing forth the Persona. She thought of Soma, the Persona that Margaret had asked her to create, and its card, but try as she might, she couldn't manage to produce just the card. It began to give her a headache before long, and her hand cramped up from her palm remaining open for so long.

But it had to be possible, she reasoned, because once in a while an enemy would interrupt her right in the middle of summoning with the Persona's card still out, essentially canceling the summon. This meant that finishing the summon wasn't a requirement for the card to exist.

She pictured a card floating over the palm of her hand. It was a tarot card, of course, with that expressionless mask on the back. The face side... it was Izanami's card. This was the Persona she defaulted to the most, after all.

The card appeared in her hand. She smiled wryly to herself at its sight, but the urge to break it and bring out Izanami was almost overwhelming, like trying to stop an oncoming sneeze. She resisted it as best she could, but when she took a step forward, she stumbled and the card blinked out of sight, leaving her with a burning afterimage before her eyes and an uneasy feeling akin to regret.

She knew she could do this. She tried again, picturing the card until it manifested. As soon as it was there, she grabbed it with her left hand. As she closed her fingers around it, a pain shot through her head and she almost let go, but she was too fiercely determined to give up. Though her head pounded in protest, the card didn't break despite the iron grip she held it in. Carefully she lifted it up like a torch. There was enough light to see by. It wasn't nearly as vibrant as the butterfly had been, but it would do.

She smiled to herself. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. She could find Souji. The smile dropped. She had to find him, and fast. He must feel so scared and alone...

She was in a short hallway with a few doors. She set her hand on the nearest door handle, but before she could turn it, she heard the creak of another door opening behind her. She whirled around, but despite her light, there was nothing she could see. Her new problem was the fog.

She couldn't let it get to her. Moving forward, she found an open door to her right. She peered inside, but the darkness within it was so pronounced that even her Persona card's light could not penetrate it, even after shining it from several different angles. It was almost as if the darkness itself had body to it.

A muffled voice came from the other side, too indistinct to identify. "Souji?" she whispered. Her voice echoed after her, magnified somehow.

There was no answer. Nanako took a step towards the impenetrable darkness, but the hairs rose on her neck, and she decided that maybe that wasn't the direction she wanted to go. Instead, she chose another door in the hall at random and entered it.

It was a bathroom, though the tub was too large for her to climb in. The wash faucets were high on the wall, well out of reach. She could barely make out the shape of a shelf above her, but it was too obscured by fog for her to see if there was anything on it. She stood on her tiptoes to get a closer look, and a sense of deja vu came over her, disorienting her for a moment until she shook her head and cleared it away. She felt like she'd been here before, and recently, too.

With a sad sigh, she went back into the hallway. None of the other doors would open, so she had little choice. She steeled her nerves and entered through the wall of darkness. The air felt cool around her, and her Persona card winked out of existence despite her every effort to keep it out.

She could still see, though, because on the other side there was a lamp on a nightstand shining faintly through the fog. The room was an unfamiliar bedroom. The futon had been rolled up and neatly put away. Walking around the room, Nanako found it was mostly featureless, with no pictures or decorations on the walls. Most importantly, there was no sign of a little boy, and the room appeared to be a dead end. The only door was the one she'd entered from.

There was, however, an open closet. Nanako approached it slowly, unable to trust anything in this place. She peered into it, allowing her eyes to adjust to the lamp's light in this far corner of the room, and found that the closet was packed to the brim with binders. The text on the binding was illegible.

Curiosity won out over caution, and Nanako pried one of the binders out from the stack, careful not to upset the balance and end up buried by them. It turned out to be a photo album. Working on automatic, she flipped it open to a random page.

The people in every picture were just black silhouettes. The eeriness was magnified by the fact that the backgrounds were completely intact, it was just the people that were turned into these misshapen blobs.

As she watched, the silhouettes began to move and dance in their photos. Though it might've just been a trick of the dim light, she slammed the book closed and shoved it back into the closet before she could find out for sure.

Souji definitely wasn't in this room, so she left it behind, trying to put the whole experience out of her mind. It wasn't until after she was quite a bit away that she realized the binders had been normal-sized, when everything else was larger than they should be.

She walked down the hallway briskly, knowing she'd wasted too much time already and hadn't seen even one small sign of Souji. She wondered if calling his name would help, but it seemed too dangerous to alert her presence to any Shadows in the area.

In her haste, she stumbled over something, barely managing to catch herself against the wall. Upon closer inspection, the 'something' turned out to be a pair of shoes. Thinking nothing of it, Nanako slipped them on.

They fit perfectly.

A chill went through her, and then she spied another pair of shoes nearby. These were smaller and black... like they belonged to a child.

There'd been something familiar about this place, and it came to her then—this was the Seta Residence. The shoes fit so well because they were actually hers.

But the entryway's dimensions were completely off. The walls weren't supposed to be so far apart, and the front door was too large. This was the Seta Residence, yes, but it was warped and twisted by the TV World, like Naoki's Junes. There was even a hallway here to her left that did not exist in the real house. Thinking nothing of it except that she hadn't explored it yet, she headed towards it.

'Wrong way,' a voice cut through the silence. Nanako whirled, instinctively bringing her knife up, ready to stab it through the Shadow's chest, but there was nothing.

She shook her head, sure that this place was messing with her mind, and took another step forward.

'You're going the wrong way,' the same voice said.

Nanako looked around, scouring the darkness around her, but she knew she wouldn't see anything. This feeling, the way the voice spoke to her, it was familiar.

"Teddie?" she whispered.

Her breath stopped for a moment as she remembered that Teddie was dead. It wasn't him. It couldn't be.

'You want to save him? The kid?'

"Yes!" she shouted. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

'He's upstairs. You need to hurry.'

Upstairs. Nanako nodded. All right. If this was the Seta Residence, and she was in the entryway, that meant the stairs were... this way. After resummoning her Persona card for light, she headed on her way.

'Stop!'

Nanako stopped in her tracks. "What?"

'Back up! Get out of that hallway, now!'

Confused, she took a step back, and was just in time to witness a massive shapeless Shadow charging right through the place she'd been standing. Her Persona card blinked out as she jumped away in surprise. If she hadn't moved, the Shadow would have tackled her, possibly crushed her into a wall.

Her mouth opened and close several times. She couldn't find words to react to this near-death experience. "So there are Shadows in here," she finally managed to remark.

'You're lucky I'm here.'

"Yeah," she said simply.

There was a short pause, and then, 'Turn to your left. A little more. Perfect. Go that way.'

Nanako nodded to herself and strode into the darkness. If she could rely on her newfound friend, she wouldn't need light. She followed the voice's directions through several turns in the house, bumping into the walls a few times until she got more used to it. Every time it told her to stop and wait, she held her breath, knowing that she was waiting for a Shadow to move out of her path. She could hear them sometimes, and it made the wait nearly unbearable.

In fact, she'd been standing at this corner for a while now, awaiting the all-clear. It was making her impatient. "Is there a problem?" 

'This one's not moving, and there's no way around it.'

She peered around the corner, carefully summoning her card and angling it both to provide light but also not attract attention. It was a black blob Shadow, not as large as the one that had nearly crashed into her earlier, but still intimidating. 

The voice began to speak rather skeptically of another path she could take, but Nanako had already rounded the corner and was now making a mad dash towards the Shadow. She sunk the combat knife deep into the amorphous flesh. As she twisted it deeper, the blob began to shift under her, desperately trying to transform into something more monstrous. She punched at the face beginning to take shape—a lion's head—and pulled out the knife and stabbed again and again until the Shadow gave up and dissolved into dust under her.

'Nice,' the voice said as she panted for her breath. 'That saves us time.'

Nanako was just glad it hadn't been immune to physical, or worse, reflect it. Her friend didn't waste any time, instructing her then to take a left.

While going down the empty hall, she suddenly felt a presence ghost past her. She shivered and closed her eyes, willing it to be her imagination. It wasn't a Shadow; her friend would have warned her if it was.

'Ah, that's...' the voice began, trailing off.

The voice didn't continue, and Nanako had the feeling that maybe it didn't know. She opened her eyes and peered through the fog. She saw nothing, but then a movement caught her eyes. She strained her eyes further, but still couldn't see anything. Right when she was about to give up, a door creaked open, bringing in light from outside the house. In the doorway she could see... 

"Sou-chan?" she whispered.

The ghostly form of the child standing there didn't respond. There was little substance to him; she could see right through him to the street beyond. She wasn't sure if he was really there or it was just another trick of her mind.

The child stepped outside. Nanako headed outside too, intending to follow, but the voice came loud and clear: 'Don't! That's not what you think it is!'

"It looks like Sou-chan," she whimpered. "But it's not... it's not..."

'It's not,' the voice agreed. 'Haven't you looked outside? You don't want to go out there.'

"But... Sou-chan..."

On automatic, Nanako began to follow the ghost child outside and down the street. Everything here had an odd orange hue, but at least she could see without her Persona's help. It was a welcome change from the darkness within the house.

As she hustled after the child, an inhuman cry broke her out of her reverie. A trio of ravens carrying lanterns were bearing down on her, and their calls brought the attention of both a nearby minotaur and a giant arm carrying a sword. At a glance, several other Shadows were behind them. A fight could only escalate the amount of enemies she would have to defeat, assuming she even could. She scrambled back to the house, the Shadows hot on her tail. She slammed the door behind her barely in time. Several heavy thuds rained on it, making the wood shudder and bend.

Fortunately, the door managed to hold out longer than the Shadows' attention spans. The thuds ended as the Shadows apparently wandered away. Out of sight, out of mind, perhaps.

Nanako relaxed, heaving a soft sigh and letting her weight fall from the door.

'I told you.'

Though the voice's tone was chiding, there was an undercurrent of worry to it. "I'm sorry," Nanako said.

'Don't make this all for nothing, okay? You can save him. There's still time.'

"All right. Thanks. Where do I need to go now?"

'Follow the wall to your right. Oh, hold on...'

The door behind Nanako unlocked, and it was wide open before she could stop it. She drew her knife, expecting a Shadow, but it was just the ghost child, returned from its errand. There was no denying it now—despite the transparency, she could clearly see the boy's yellow eyes. Staring at them, it took a moment for Nanako to process the fact that the child was now carrying several boxes of takeout. 

The Shadow child moved past her, and Nanako followed it without really thinking. It returned to the kitchen, where it settled the boxes onto the table. It climbed into a chair too large for it and sat at the table.

Several moments passed with the Shadow just sitting there, staring at its takeout. Every so often it would glance out the kitchen window, then return its attention to the box.

Finally it released a resigned sigh and opened the box and began to eat.

Nanako blinked away the tears forming in her eyes and turned away from the scene. 

'Not to hurry you or anything,' the voice said, 'but they're starting to get restless.'

She wiped her nose on her sleeve, wondering what the voice meant until it dawned on her that it had to be the Shadows. She could hear it now, arrhythmic thumping against the kitchen window and the front door. The Shadows outside were trying to get into the house with unusual focus. 

'I'm not sure what's got them riled up,' the voice admitted, 'but I get the feeling there isn't much time.'

"I think…" Nanako began, and paused because she then realized she could see all the way to the front door from the kitchen, despite the distance. The fog was beginning to clear up.

She needed to get moving. She made to head for the stairs, but a new sound caught her ear. She'd recognize that crisp tone anywhere: Aunt Seta's voice. Though Nanako couldn't make out the words, Aunt Seta sounded like she was on the phone. The sound drifted through the air, sourceless, towards the living room. Souji's Shadow watched it move. When the TV turned on in the living room, the child sighed and turned its attention to the homework it was working on.

Nanako remained there for a while longer, surprised on some level that the voice wasn't goading her into action despite the fact that the Shadows outside were getting louder. She just didn't want to leave the Shadow boy here, but she also didn't want to know what would happen when the fog lifted. She remembered what Teddie had said about that.

She shook her head and headed for the stairs, finding them easily enough, though the way they twisted made them unrecognizable from any set of stairs she'd seen before. She blinked up at the darkness at the top. "Are you sure he's up there?"

'Positive. Or at least, there are two things that aren't Shadows up there.'

Two? The kidnapper had to be up there with him. "He's..." Nanako began, then swallowed the question she'd almost asked. "He's okay, right?" she tried again, a more palatable question.

'For now,' was the answer, and that was enough to move her up the foreboding staircase.

To her surprise, she only had to round one twist before she ran into a big door. Orange light bled out under it. She stared at this light for a long moment because the brilliance of color in this house of darkness was notable all on its own.

She put her ear to the door, but couldn't hear anything past it. The door wouldn't budge when she pushed on it. There was an overlarge keyhole by the handle. She didn't have the key—wait. She knew what room this was, and she did have the key on her, even if she never locked the door herself. 

She unlocked the door, and with a click, it opened. Though she'd tried to prepare for it, she was blinded by the brilliant orange light that suddenly bathed her. The light originated from a massive cartoon sun far in the distance.

When her eyes adjusted, she found herself in a large room open to the sky. She didn't care to take in the room's details, though, because a little boy's form was lying on a pile of stuffed animals right in the center.

Nanako jogged towards the boy, slowing as she drew close. Souji was breathing, apparently asleep. Despite being here in the TV World, he seemed at peace. She knelt by his side, wondering if she should wake him first or just carry him out of here. She knelt down by his side and cradled his head in her hands, cooing softly at him.

She picked him up, and he stirred but didn't awaken. She took a few steps towards the door and stopped. The little ghost boy had apparently followed her up the stairs and was standing in the way.

It stared at her. Then its eyes moved from her to Souji, then back again. Not once did it blink.

Finally, it spoke. "I'm... alone..." it said, sounding almost as if it was asking a question.

"I'm here," Nanako told it. "And Sou-chan will be okay."

"I'm all alone." It said these words with more strength, and more than a little sadness. "Papa left me..."

Nanako's heart fell. It really was Souji's Shadow, then, and her baby boy was hurting. He missed his dad probably more than she ever suspected.

"Papa left me... If he loved me... then why did he go?"

In her arms, Souji made an unpleasant sound, though he didn't awaken. She tried to hold him closer to her chest.

"I miss him," the Shadow said, "but he didn't love me."

"He loved you," Nanako said, spying the sudden frown on her sleeping baby's face. She knew she couldn't keep quiet. "I know he did. He bought you Rainbow Fish, and..."

The Shadow just shook its head. The furrows of Souji's frown grew tighter until it seemed more like a painful grimace.

"A-and he took baths with you," Nanako rallied on. "He'd pet your head, just like this, Sou-chan!" Though she couldn't pet him, carrying him as she was, she lifted him up to her chin and rubbed his hair with it. His expression remained disturbed.

"Papa left me," the Shadow said, "and Mama's no different. She loves work more than she loves me."

That was more difficult to argue against, but Nanako tried anyway. "No, no, she's doing her best, Sou-chan! That's why she lets you go to cram school. You love cram school, you told me so yourself!"

Souji was biting his lip in his sleep.

"Someday," the Shadow said, "Mama won't even come home from work, and I'll be completely alone."

"She won't do that," Nanako said. "She might stay late, but she always comes home for you!"

Souji whimpered several times but still remained asleep. He shivered, as if he needed a blanket.

"And Mama said..."

The Shadow paused.

"W-what?" Nanako asked.

"Big sis will leave me, too."

Amid several more whimpers, Souji's body twitched, like he was having a nightmare.

"Sou-chan!" Nanako said, stricken. She hugged him ever tighter, but the nightmare didn't end. Souji didn't awaken, and his body wouldn't stop shaking. "It's okay, I'm here. I won't leave you, not now..."

"I'm always alone..." the Shadow said. "Because I'm a big boy..."

Enough, Nanako decided. She had to get Souji out of here. She maneuvered around the Shadow, stepping past it and towards the doorway.

Only to find a man in a green jumpsuit rushing into the room. He didn't notice Nanako and threw the door shut behind him, screaming "No!" and slamming all his weight behind it. Someone's hand was crushed in the gap. 

"Fucking hell!" shouted a familiar voice on the other side of the door. It was Kanji! Kanji pulled his injured hand out of the gap and the man slammed the door shut, keeping his weight against it.

"Open the door, jackass!" That was Yosuke. Was the whole squad here? Nanako felt immensely relieved.

"Guys! I'm here, and I got Souji!" she shouted.

The man nearly jumped away from the door, startled at hearing her. He cast a baleful eye on her. "You again?"

He must have lost his mask somewhere along the way. In the fading sunlight, Nanako could recognize him. It was Taro Namatame.

"Let the boy go," Namatame said. "He'll be safe here. This is the only safe place."

"Safe?" Nanako repeated. "You think this place is safe? You've been killing people!"

"N-no… this place is safe!" Namatame said. "I've been saving everyone. The innkeeper, the punk boy, th-the detective! But I couldn't save the idol..." He shook his head, and then his mad eyes were even more determined. "I won't let this boy die!"

He reached out for Souji, and Nanako stepped back. Namatame didn't follow, not willing to take his weight from the door. The whole team was there now, Nanako could hear them, all trying to break it down. It wouldn't last much longer under their assault.

"Just look around you!" Nanako said. "You think this fog is safe to breathe?" Namatame looked around, but there wasn't actually much fog anymore. The room's features were clear now: the unrolled futon in the corner, the TV she rarely used, the desk she never once studied at, the moving boxes she had yet to unpack…

The door was suddenly blown off its hinges, nearly crushing Namatame, who was then thrown to the floor. Nanako hardly noticed because she was looking out of the window. The fog was dissipating before her very eyes, revealing an ordinary-looking street, the view she saw nearly every day out of her own window. Except the street never crawled like it was covered in ants before. These weren't ants, though, they were hundreds and hundreds of Shadows writhing together.

"You think those aren't going to slaughter anyone they see?" Nanako cried.

Namatame pulled himself to his knees. He blinked owlishly at her, then looked where she was pointing. "W-what are…" 

"When the fog is gone," she said. "We won't want to be here."

"No," he said, and she couldn't tell if he was agreeing with her or not. After a moment, he turned his head from the window and stretched out both arms towards her. "Give me… the boy!"

The sun was beginning to set. In its odd lighting, Namatame's skin looked like it was crawling. She recoiled by stepping back.

"I have to save him," he pleaded. He stumbled towards her, shuffling on his knees with his hands outstretched and making grabbing motions. Nanako couldn't tell if their claw-like appearance was just her imagination or not.

"Give it up," Yosuke said, disgusted. 

The DEATH Squad had fanned into the room. Nanako might never have been more happy to see them, though she noted how bruised and battered they were. Kanji was rubbing the hand that had been caught in the door, Chie had lost one of her killer boots somewhere along the way, and Naoto was carrying Nanako's naginata as if it he'd been using it.

"Is Souji all right?" Kanji asked.

Nanako began to answer, but suddenly Namatame had closed the distance and was pawing at her skirt. "Give me…!" he growled. In a flash, Nanako held Souji higher in the air and kicked Namatame in the face, like he'd done to her before. Namatame coughed and spluttered against the floor. "No…" he moaned.

Nanako shivered. He'd touched her! "Souji's fine," she said. "But we have to get him out of here as soon as we can. Do you guys know the way out?"

"He can't leave," Namatame gasped from the floor. "He can't… he can't!"

Discordant wails came from outside the window. The last vestiges of fog were fading away, and with that, the Shadows were going crazy. They massed together and began to hiss, screech, and claw their way up the wall, taking huge gouges out of it as they tried to climb up to the very room Nanako and the rest were in. 

Namatame writhed with a squeal, and before anyone could do anything, a sourceless wind whipped through the room. The Shadows outside were yanked through the window, together forming a black fog thicker than soup that coagulated around Namatame's body. The sudden pressure in the room caused all the walls to collapse outward like they were made of cardboard.

Seconds later, Namatame was floating into the air, his body twitching this way and that like a puppet on the strings of a twisted puppeteer. His anguished cries drowned out the sounds of the Shadows as his body swelled like a balloon, growing, _bloating,_ more and more until… Nanako closed her eyes, more out of politeness than disgust. "Nobody deserves this," she muttered, even as her thoughts rushed to blame him for everything wrong. But closed eyes could not hide the disgusting sound that came afterwards, a gruesome squelching not unlike crushing a blister filled with pus. When Nanako opened her eyes, Namatame and the Shadows were both gone, replaced by a black-skinned creature vested in a white robe. It flew with tiny red wings and had a massive head. Red gears sprouted from the head, whirling around like some unearthly halo.

"I'll save him…" it sighed.

Nanako swallowed hard, but somehow her heart was calm. _We can do this,_ she thought, as the squad wordlessly lifted their weapons. _They can do this._

Kanji charged right ahead, while Chie and Yukiko exchanged a glance. Nanako couldn't pay too much attention—her eyes kept darting back to the boy in her arms, wishing he wasn't there, wishing she could save him—but she did notice Naoto lining up a shot, right before a massive spear of summoned ice hit him.

The fight was on. Nanako decided her best bet was to get Souji as far away from the front line as she could, but when she turned around, she found herself face-to-face with Souji's Shadow.

The Shadow wasn't doing anything. It was just standing there, staring at her as Souji was wont to do. At least it had stopped speaking, but the real Souji in her arms was not about to wake up anytime soon. There was no way he could confront it in his condition, even if she wanted him to.

And then she noticed that there was something off about the ghost child now that the fog had lifted. For one, it seemed to be drooling something as it stared at her. No, not just drooling, but…

A second later, the black substance, slick like oil but much thicker, began to pour from its mouth, eyes and ears, covering its body until there was no more child, only an amorphous blob, not unlike those wandering the corridors of every dungeon. During what seemed to be an eternity, there was silence; even the monster that was once Namatame had one beady eye peering at the creature yet to form. More than ever, Nanako dreaded what was to come.

Soon, a multitude of spindly arms and legs began to pour out of the Shadow. Just as soon, they retreated back into the misshapen mass, as though there was something keeping them there; it wasn't until a face poured from it, coming dangerously close to her, that Nanako realized that maybe there _was._ Unconsciously, she reached out—that was her baby cousin, her baby brother—but the face bared teeth at her. The teeth became fangs as the face forced itself out, nostrils flared and canines enlarged. From the corner of her eyes, Nanako saw that two of the arms had also escaped, scrabbling at the ground, crawling towards her with their fingers curling into claws. She took a step back, suddenly overcome by fear as she watched the head grow larger, and, after a sickening crunch sound, emerge from the Shadow, covered in chains and black fur.

The... dog... growled at her, its enormous tongue drooling the same substance it had come out from. Nanako noted it had only one eye, the left, misshapen and colored a muted yellow; she found herself unable to match its gaze, in a way that very much reminded her of Margaret. Instead, she trailed the chains. Most of them were hooked to flesh and led to darkness, but one of them was bent, leading back towards the creature itself. Nanako squinted, and saw a tiny hand clutching at it. The hand was soon joined by another, and using the chain as an anchor, they pulled themselves out of the beast, revealing a humanoid figure wearing a silver faceplate. There were belt buckles around its neck, and two white streamers flowed from its head like some sort of oversized headband. Like the dog-beast it was joined to, this humanoid being had only one eye.

"I am a Shadow," said the creature. Nanako wasn't sure whether it was the dog or the human part speaking. "The true self."

There was a squelching sound; something was coming out of the dog's drool. The human half of the Shadow reached out towards it.

Nanako felt the hairs stand up at the nape of her neck. She clutched Souji tighter and jumped to the side, narrowly evading... something, something that hit like a blade. When she looked back, she realized it was a blade, only not the kind she was familiar with, half sword, half spear, half fucking meat cleaver.

The spot where she stood a second earlier was now debris.

With that, she snapped into battle mode.

"Yosuke!" she called.

In response, Yosuke tossed her her naginata, which Naoto had dropped at some point and which she now almost failed to catch. With a nod, she thanked him, then laid out the battle plan. The one part of it she had actually thought about, anyway.

"I need you to protect Souji," she said while gently laying the boy on the ground. Shadow selves usually didn't attack their host while engaged in battle, but she wasn't gonna leave it to chance. Yosuke grunted something and summoned Jiraiya to deflect an attack from the Namatame monster. That would have to do. The beast was approaching.

Nanako saw that the humanoid half was carrying the gigantic blade with ease in one hand, while clutching the chains with the other like they were reins. It ran towards her, blade pointed straight ahead. She'd seen this before on TV. Jousting? Whatever. Nanako raised her naginata and deflected the blade at the last second, but then the dog half lunged at her, its neck seemingly growing in size until its horrifying fangs were grazing her skin, stopped short only by the humanoid half, who had raised the chains. It was taunting her. Nanako ignored the rancid stench coming from the dog's mouth and jumped back, aware that she wasn't fast enough to attack it while it was on so short a leash. Instinctively, she knew that the Shadow would not be doing any more taunting. The real fight started now.

Compared to the mostly whimsical Shadows she'd faced so far, this one stood out as nauseatingly real, in that she could perceive every part of it in horrible detail, from the mangy fur to the blood leaking out of the wounds caused by the chains, or more accurately, the rusted hooks they were attached to. Every now and then, the dog half would flinch and try to shake the chains off, only for the human half to pull them, causing the dog to whimper. They were the same creature, and yet…

The humanoid half was no less disconcerting. Its one eye stared unblinking at Nanako, glowing intensely yellow and locked into a frown due to the faceplate. It seemed to be wearing a waistcoat of some sort, but the creature had no actual legs, so the coat just hung over the dog, slowly but surely being torn apart by the hooks and chains. Nanako couldn't bear to look at it... at them... for too long. That thing was Souji, just like the many-eyed abomination in Kubo's dungeon had been Teddie. No longer a hermit child? Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Nanako took a deep breath. No use in dwelling on it now. She'd help him through it, just like she'd been doing all year. She'd never let him be lonely ever again. This, she swore.

With a Persona card in hand, Nanako charged towards the beast. "Izanami!" she cried, spraying high pressure water at it. When it was over, both halves were drenched, but had barely moved an inch. Damn it, she cursed in her head. Gotta find out his weakness.

Next up was electricity.

Nanako had to keep it to close quarters because her friends were fighting in the same room. None of them had the skill to fight two battles at once, herself included, so she blocked it out, focusing only on the beast in front of her. On the other hand, she had to be careful not to step on the water she herself had conjured, or she'd be victim to her own combo. That being the case, she decided that some crazy was in order and ran head first towards the creature, sticking her naginata in the floor the moment it prepared to attack and using the momentum to vault over it. Nanako lost the naginata, because it wasn't a real pole, but her Persona card was already prepared, and with a desperate yell, she crushed it in midair. Lightning erupted from above her and into the beast, shocking it to hell and back. Nanako landed clumsily against some wall, already smiling over her success, except…

The human half had its weapon pointed at her. The blade crackled with so much energy that some of it zapped towards the floor and the ceiling, leaving minor burn marks. Without a word, the Shadow released the energy it had absorbed from her attack right back at her; all she could do was raise her arms in futile defense, and hope that the Persona she'd used for the attack was resistant.

It wasn't.

Nanako felt as though her body was burning from the inside as she took the brunt of her own Ziodyne and let out a piercing scream, falling to the ground afterwards, legs shaking, fingers twitching wildly, arms still crackling with electricity; but a second later it was over, and she was on her feet again, reaching for her naginata, only to find that it was still where she'd left it: behind the beast.

"Jiraiya!"

A tremendously strong gust of wind swept over the room, knocking every box flat into the wall. Nanako had to cover her ears as the beast howled, taken by surprise. Inch by inch it was pushed back, away from her, until it fell to its knees as the humanoid half momentarily released its grip on weapon and chains both. It was weak to wind! Nanako looked over at the source, a ragged-looking Yosuke breathing hard.

"The heck was that?" she asked, giving him a slightly twitchy thumbs up.

"Been saving it up," he answered, coughing heavily afterwards. Whatever it was, it'd taken a lot out of him.

Nanako glanced to where her other friends were fighting the hippie monster thing. Kanji was beating it raw with his huge shield while Yukiko took care of an unconscious Chie. Naoto seemed to be charging something in the background. Good. They were doing good. She didn't need to worry. Actually, they were doing better than her. That had been a fairly stupid move. Setanta had Zionga and blocked electricity, but she'd decided to use Seiryu instead, because it had Ziodyne. Whatever, she wouldn't make that mistake again, not during this fight anyway.

Though hurt, Nanako ran for her naginata as soon as she realized the monster was down for the moment, then summoned Izanami to heal. _Wind. Okay. I can do wind._ The problem was she barely ever did. Yosuke was almost always on wind duty, and though she'd specifically fused a wind Persona after he'd left the team, she'd made a point to fuse it into something else when he came back. Maybe it was still there somewhere though. She closed her eyes, envisioning the different arcana in her mind. Izanami, Soma, Setanta, Queen Mab, Seiryu, Black Frost, Samael and... Oh! Fortuna. Fortuna had Garula, though she was fairly weak. Whatever, she'd won battles with Omoikane, she could do this.

Just as she switched to Fortuna, the beast got up and charged at her. This time the humanoid half wasn't pointing his sword, so it was probably the dog half attacking. Nanako decided to charge at them too, ready for a ferocious face off…

...Not. She slid under the beast, raising her naginata as best she could. Predictably, it got stuck in one of the chains, leaving her stuck too. _Fuck me and my stupid plans,_ she thought, trying not to pay too much attention to the disturbingly human paws the dog half had. The good news was it didn't seem to be able to get at her there, but she figured this wouldn't last long.

Okay, new plan.

"Fortuna!" she called, and a moderately strong gust of wind came in response, raising the beast just enough that she could free her naginata and roll away. It really was weak to wind, too, because afterwards it stumbled back, growling furiously at her. No reaction from the humanoid half.

Nanako prepared to summon Fortuna again, but before she could, the beast charged at her again. _Shit shit shit._ Nanako raised her naginata to deflect its blade, but it attacked with such strength that it knocked her back a few inches.

Unfortunately, it wasn't done.

"Big sis," it said, and now she knew it was the human half speaking. Something told her to _dodge,_ an instinct of some sort that forced her to jump to the side, and as result she narrowly avoided getting hit by an electric blast. The humanoid half looked curiously at this. _Just like Souji when he tries to understand something,_ she thought, seeing it clear as day in her head.

That moment of hesitation was all it took. The beast leaped at her, biting down hard on her right shoulder. Nanako gritted her teeth in an effort not to scream, not to distract Yosuke again. She couldn't use her naginata anymore, not with her right hand, it hurt enough trying to keep a hold on it.

"Go away, big sis," the Shadow said, dropping the distorted voice for once and letting Souji shine through, "the more you stay, the more it hurts."

Nanako couldn't say anything without screaming, she was in too much pain, but the fact that the Shadow was trying to get at her like this was just too much. With her left hand, she pulled one of the hooks from the dog's back. Blood, not fresh and red but very old, almost dry blood, oozed from it. The dog howled, releasing its grip on her. It was still lying on top of her though, too heavy, so she closed her eyes and stuck the hook back in. The weight immediately left her body as the beast leaped back, apparently against the wishes of the humanoid half, who was desperately pulling on the chains.

Again with the left hand, she picked up her naginata and pointed it at the creature, trying to ignore the blood pouring from her own wound.

The humanoid half pointed its blade in response.

For the third time, Nanako charged at it, but she wasn't going to vault or slide. Instead, she switched Personas. 

The dog half was still in considerable pain and took a moment to move. When it did, it was slower. Unconcerned, the humanoid half swung at her with all its strength. She dodged, dropping right under the swing and swinging back strong with her own naginata.

"Setanta!" she called. The black haired boy with the bowl cut joined his blade with hers, and together they aimed at the weighty hilt of the Shadow's weapon.

The sound of a blade hitting the ground told her it worked, and so she twirled, grabbed the naginata with both hands, let out the scream she'd been suppressing and stabbed the humanoid half in the throat, breaking part of its faceplate.

Underneath, gurgling blood, the mouth and jaw of a child no older than six.

The image seared into her mind before the Shadow fell apart, extremities dissolving like any other Shadow until it left behind just the yellow-eyed boy again, the mirror of the one still slumbering by Yosuke's feet. At this point, Nanako wanted to hug both of them. Or, in her relief and exhaustion, maybe just cry.

A squeal from the Namatame monster nabbed her attention. Its big black hands were covering its face. It was cowering where it floated in the air. Her friends had defeated it. A moment later its skin began to melt. All the Shadows that it had been made from were now pouring out of it, streaming down and over the edge of the room to where they'd come from outside. When they were gone, only Namatame's body was left. He fell limply to the ground after that and didn't get up. Kanji wasted no time in securing him to ensure he would no longer be a threat. 

Nanako moved to Souji's side, kneeling down and cradling him in her arms. To her surprise, he finally stirred into wakefulness. "Big… sis…?" his soft voice whispered.

"Everything's going to be okay, honey," Nanako told him. "I'm here."

Souji smiled faintly. "Yeah…"

"What about his Shadow?" Yosuke asked in a hushed tone. 

Nanako looked up. Her friends were now gathered around her. The child Shadow was among them, standing very close to her. It was still staring, and she wasn't sure what to do about it.

"He has to accept it, right?" Chie asked. "If he denies it, we might have to fight it again."

"How can we expect a child to face his Shadow?" Nanako wondered aloud. Though Souji could be mature for his age, he was just a child, and he felt so small and weak in her arms.

"We can't just leave it there," Chie said. "But…"

"There is the chance that it will simply disappear," Naoto said. "What that might do to him, however, is unknowable."

"That's what happened to Kubo," Yukiko said, and they all shuddered at the memory.

"Big sis…" Souji repeated. He grasped the front of Nanako's blouse. "I… I had a nightmare…"

Though worried about his Shadow, Nanako turned her attention to Souji, who needed it now more than anything. "You dreamed of sad things, didn't you?" she murmured, brushing fingers through his hair. "Of your dad and your mom."

He nodded, closing his eyes. "Papa's gone… and Mama works so much…" He shifted in her arms. "B-but I… I know…"

Without moving her head, Nanako strained her eyes to glance sidelong at the child Shadow, but it remained silent. "Go on, honey," she murmured.

Souji took a breath too heavy for him. "I know Mama likes to work, a-and she has to work, because Papa…"

"But you get lonely at home, right?" Nanako asked. "You wish she wouldn't always be on the phone. I know I sure as heck wish that!"

Souji giggled, but the sweet sound turned into a coughing fit. "Y-yeah," he managed. "I miss Papa a lot, big sis, but he worked a lot, too. Maybe I don't miss him… but I miss Mama being happy…"

"She's your mama," Nanako said. "Of course you would."

"Big sis…" Souji's eyes fluttered open. "It almost feels normal again at home, because you're here."

"It doesn't feel so lonely, huh?" She tugged him up in her arms to rub her cheek against his. 

"I don't w-want you to go home, big sis!"

The boy's cry had been just a whisper, but it filled the room. "I know, Sou-chan," Nanako said. "I…" She faltered, unable to promise him things that weren't true.

Souji sighed, but to her surprise, it wasn't heavy or sad. "I know," he said. "Your mama and papa miss you, so… you have to go home. Me and my mama will be okay."

"Sou-chan," she whispered.

Then, his eyes widened, if only slightly. He raised his hand as his frown turned into a smile. He was pointing at something above them.

Nanako looked up to find the shimmering image of a wolf cub at play. It had beautiful white fur with red patterns seemingly painted onto it. It soon faded into a card, which twirled in the air as it moved downward towards Souji. 

"Sou-chan?" she whispered again, but the boy was now fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> herrdoktorat says: This year hasn't been easy for either of us. Thank you for sticking around with us so long. I tried to address the criticism towards the Shadow Teddie battle, which really was a bit confusing, and the end result was this. I hope you all liked it! Stay tuned for more updates. :>


	49. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping from the TV World was always going to be hard, but possibly not as hard as what follows.

Two tears fell from Nanako's eyes, landing on Souji's cheeks and rolling down his sleeping face. A loud, honking snort interrupted the silence after, and when Nanako looked up, it was Kanji blowing his nose on his sleeve, but he wasn't the only one affected.

"Even he has a Persona," Naoto said, his voice raw. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I would have expected it to be a cat."

"Or a dinosaur," Yosuke added in a mumble. He was rubbing his eyes. "Souji... Damn it..."

"He's j-just a little guy," Kanji said. 

_We have to get him out of here,_ Nanako thought. _He's been in here far too long already._

"You guys found this place by triangulation, right?" she asked, looking up at her friends. "Or did that guy help you?"

"What guy?" Yosuke asked. "We knew where you went in, so we used Naoto's map. Fought through hordes of Shadows to get here. Honestly, it was dicey as all hell. We barely made it."

"A voice guided me through the house," Nanako explained. "It felt like Teddie, but... it wasn't. I don't know who it was. He's gone now, I don't feel him anymore. I'm not sure when he left. I think it was before the battle started."

"A voice, huh..." Yosuke said. He sighed. "I'd be suspicious, but I don't know if I care at this point. Too much going on, you know?" 

Nanako nodded. "Exactly. All that mattered to me was that I find Sou-chan, and I did, so... I didn't question it."

"I would say something about you hearing voices," Naoto said, "but now isn't the time. I presume you're asking if we know the way out."

"We didn't actually enter from the Junes TV," Chie said. "It wasn't safe to use so close to closing. But we did stop by the backlot to get our gear."

"Before you ask, we used my dad's TV," Yosuke said. "My family wasn't home. But, umm, the thing is..." He trailed off.

"What?" she asked, tired.

Yosuke's mouth quirked, and then he waved a hand. "The thing is, you can almost see the backlot from here."

That's right, the room's walls were long gone. Despite being only on the second floor of the house, it felt like they were a lot higher up. Without the fog, they could see almost everything from here. The TV World was mostly featureless and flat, basically just a bunch of empty space. The floor reflected the red and black sky much like the surface of a lake. It went on for miles and miles. Way off in the distance she saw Naoki's Junes. In another direction, somewhat closer, was Kanji's bathhouse.

"That's... far," she said bleakly. The distance wasn't even the worst part: the empty areas were teeming with Shadows. There were almost more of them than stars in the sky. Getting through that would be like navigating a minefield.

"And we gotta carry _that_ guy there, too." Yosuke jerked his thumb towards the unconscious Namatame. 

"I can do it," Kanji volunteered. "If someone helps put him on my back."

Nanako stroked her fingers through Souji's hair, considering. They had to do it, there was no choice. Kanji with Namatame, her with Souji, the rest acting as vanguard. It would have to work. 

She felt something wet in Souji's hair. It wasn't her tears. Her fingers trembled, probing. The hair was matted in one spot with drying blood. "H-He's hurt!" she cried.

"Where?" Yukiko asked, rushing to her side. "Oh... oh no. A concussion?"

"Is that why he can't stay awake?"

Yukiko tried to use her Persona's healing, but it didn't seem to help. In all likelihood, Souji had been hurt before entering the TV World. It had probably been during the scuffle with Namatame inside his truck.

"He needs to see a doctor as soon as possible," Yukiko said. "That's the best thing we can do."

There was a thump nearby. When Nanako looked, the unconscious Namatame was sprawled on the floor. Yosuke had been helping put him on Kanji's back, but one way or another, he'd 'slipped.'

"Let's go," Nanako said, and she headed towards the stairs. She heard the others follow behind her.

Carrying Souji, Nanako couldn't fight. When they ran into their first group of Shadows at the bottom of the stairs, she had to stay on the sidelines. Helpless as she was, she made it her job to be the lookout, warning them when another group of Shadows nearby was about to join in, attracted by all the noise.

She was surprised to find that she didn't need to give her friends any orders or advice. The DEATH Squad fought together well, almost synchronized as a team, even without the snake's head, so to speak. 

These Shadows were just plain nasty, all tooth, claw, and blade combined with the most powerful abilities they'd seen so far. It was all Yukiko could do to keep them healed up, and after this last group, she was so peaked that the dark circles under her eyes looked like they'd never be erased. Kanji had dumped Namatame unceremoniously to the floor to join in the fight.

When that group was defeated, they'd barely taken another step before another mass of Shadows came barreling around the corner to replace their defeated comrades, and the fight was on again. This happened again and again until they finally staggered their way through the house's front door.

Outside, the expanse of red and black spiraling sky greeted them. From the ground floor, the Junes seemed as impossible to reach as the horizon.

"We need a plan," Chie said, voicing what was on everyone's mind.

"Wasn't expecting to hafta carry this asshole out of here," Kanji growled, shifting Namatame on his back.

They all looked at him, and then away. The unspoken truth was they only expected to walk out of there with a new Persona user. At that thought, Nanako looked down at Souji still unconscious in her arms. She bit back more tears. They weren't wrong.

"Hey, Senpai...?" Kanji said hesitantly. "The bathhouse is nearby. We can rest there and come up with a plan. The Shadows there are a joke. I bet they're weak even without the fog."

"We can do that," Nanako said. 

Or so she'd thought. First they had to get past the strong Shadows around the house. They were entirely unfamiliar to the group, so there was no way of knowing their weaknesses except through trial and error, which was both costly and time-consuming. As battered as they were, they'd run out of healing juice before long. It wasn't so much a race against time now as a race against their bodies' own limits.

After the fifth battle outside of the house, the toll became too hard to ignore. Naoto had used up most of his bullets, Yukiko wouldn't stop rubbing her temple, and Yosuke hadn't bothered to heal a big gash on his hand. 

Chie called a halt. 

"Nanako," she said, "I was thinking... We can't exit through Junes again. The store is closed by now, but there are all those new security cameras. It's too risky."

"There isn't another way out," Nanako said. She shifted Souji in her arms. "We can't... we can't wait around." 

"I know, I know," Chie said, "but... it's just like Kubo again. We have the culprit with us. We got away with it last time, but that was pure luck."

"I don't think I can come up with another cover," Yosuke agreed, "but that's our only way out."

There was a pause, and then Naoto cleared his throat. "What if we moved the exit?"

They all stared at him. "Moved... the exit?"

"The exit stack of TVs," he explained. "If it works the same way as TVs do in our world, perhaps we can exit through a different TV than the one in Junes."

Chie, Yosuke and Nanako exchanged significant looks. "Okay," said Yosuke, "but how would we even move it? It's not just one TV, but three."

"They're lighter than one would expect," Naoto said. "I moved the stack myself out of curiosity. Just an inch, of course. That small distance didn't appear to change which TV it led to, however. That would have to be tested with a greater distance."

"Like...?" Yosuke's brow was scrunched together.

"Move it a few feet from where it is," Naoto said, "and then find out if you exit through a different TV in the electronics department."

Only the Detective Prince could come up with this one. The rest of them never once considered so much as touching Teddie's exit TV, let alone moving it.

"Okay, but where do we move it to?"

"Why not the bathhouse?" Nanako suggested.

"Me and Ma don't have a big TV," Kanji said. "Not one we all could fit through."

 _Not even big enough for Souji?_ Nanako thought, but she bit her lip before she could voice it. She needed to exit with him, to be there with him on the other side.

"Yosuke's house?" she tried.

"Maybe," Yosuke said, but he sounded doubtful. "The thing is, I don't know where exactly my house is on this side. There's no landmark to point it out. I don't have a dungeon of my own, you know? "

"I do," Yukiko said quietly. 

"Your dungeon wouldn't lead to a TV, though," Nanako said. "You were thrown into the one in Namatame's truck, which is nowhere near there now. It's more than likely still parked outside my house."

"Right," Yukiko said, "but Ms. Yamano's dungeon leads to a TV. The one the killer pushed her through is still in my family's inn's reception room."

Nanako looked at Namatame draped over Kanji's back. He was the trash who'd done that. Though he'd seemed so miserable in the rain. Remorseful, perhaps, but if that was the case then why was he still throwing people in?

Near the edge of her vision, she saw Yosuke grimace and shift his kunai from one hand to the other. "I don't know, Nanako. That's still pretty damn far. I mean, we haven't even made it to the bathhouse yet!"

"We'll split up," Chie said. "The last few Shadows were actually kinda easy, probably because we're getting farther from that house. Me and Yosuke, we can move the stack while the rest of you go to the bathhouse and wait for us to give the all-clear."

"I'll go with you," Yukiko said. 

Chie hesitated, her eyes cloudy, but then she nodded. She glanced at everyone else. "That sound good?"

"You guys will have a lot of walking to do," Nanako said. "Are you sure?" And the last time they'd split up like this, well...

"I'm used to running!" Chie grinned, then frowned. "Though it is awkward with only the one boot."

"All right," Nanako said, sounding like it was anything but. "We'll see you soon."

Nanako watched them go.

"'S a good plan, Senpai," Kanji said, walking next to her as they arrived at the bathhouse. The chalk patterns she'd made a long time ago on the floor outside were still there, scuffed a little from where Shadows had wandered over them. "If anyone can do it, it'll be those guys."

"I know," Nanako said. "It just seems so..."

"Precarious," Naoto finished for her. "I have my qualms, but we must trust in them."

Nanako did trust them. Yosuke was reliable, even if he was a doof for not marking down where his dad's TV had led them. But at the same time, she was happy he'd lost his mind, too, once Souji had been kidnapped. Hell, all of them were reliable. It must have been difficult for them to come together on such short notice, but here they were... 

"I forgot how hot it is in here," Kanji muttered. 

"It's a little less steamy where the baths are," Nanako said. "Looks like the shortcut's still here, let's head up there."

Once they got there, Kanji dropped Namatame to the hard floor. He wiped his brow, but with all the sweat, it didn't really help.

"Go after them," Nanako said softly. "Kanji."

Kanji stared at her for a moment, then gripped his shield with renewed strength and dashed back down the stairs. Nanako felt a little better knowing he'd be with the others soon.

"It is certainly very hot," Naoto murmured. "And so much steam."

"You can take your shirt off," Nanako said. "It's just me."

"Ah, I'm more concerned with Souji. This atmosphere won't be good for his wound."

"Y-yeah..." 

Nanako gently set Souji on a wooden bench near the edge of the room. There were some towels on the bench, but they were too damp to be used as a dressing. Nanako took off Souji's shirt, then cut a long strip out of it, sad on some level that she had to ruin something that she'd bought him. With Naoto's help, they wrapped it around Souji's head to dress the wound. They also checked for other injuries, but fortunately that was the only one they could find.

After setting another towel under Souji's head as a makeshift pillow, Nanako and Naoto watched the rise and fall of his breathing for some time. Nanako was so glad she'd made it in time, and yet... 

She traced her fingers over his bare chest, feeling each of his ribs. He wasn't as thin as he used to be. Maybe all that takeout was catching up to him? And he wasn't so pale anymore, either. In fact, he was starting to develop a nice tan, probably from all the Sunday training she'd brought him along for.

She wondered if it was her fault that he'd been kidnapped. Retribution somehow for her meddling. She glanced, uneasy, at Namatame's unconscious form on the floor where Kanji had dropped him. The Midnight Channel had been so useless to her. She hadn't been able to recognize her own little cousin on it when she knew him more than his own mother. And yet this man had known it immediately, and kidnapped him the very next day. Though... she and the team had missed it that rainy night a few days ago. If that was all it had taken, she would never forgive herself.

"Should we... should we try to wake him?" Nanako asked. "If he has a concussion..."

Naoto shook his head. "Rest is what he needs the most. It's likely he'll sleep for some time."

"Yeah, all right," Nanako said, glad that it was Naoto with her then. She needed his calm.

Nanako stared at her baby some more, at least until the rustle of fabric drew her attention. Though Nanako didn't feel it herself, the heat must have become too unbearable, because Naoto was taking off his shirt and tie, and then the armor she'd bought him from Daidara. Underneath it all he wore a plain white binder that she helped him find online. It suited him, and she was glad he was using it. It made her remember the nice day they'd had. Mr. Morooka had died on such a day.

"How did this happen?" she whispered, or maybe whimpered. She didn't want an answer.

"How _did_ it happen?" Naoto asked, instead. "Kanji-san was too agitated when he called me. I was not able to ascertain the situation as much as I would have liked."

Nanako explained how Saki had come over to show her how popular Souji was on the internet. Not two minutes later, someone knocked on their door, and though Nanako realized what was happening, well...

"It was too late," the detective finished. "The internet," he repeated. "I was so focused on searching for noteworthy persons on television and in newspapers that it completely escaped my mind that the internet is a source as well."

"I'm not sure we would've even noticed, Shirogane-san. I wouldn't have thought twice about a video of his school play being put online."

Naoto sighed. "I suppose we shouldn't beat ourselves up over what can't be helped."

"I'm going to anyway," Nanako said.

Another silence followed. Watching Souji's breathing was hypnotic in some way. 

"He accepted his Shadow. That means he has to be okay, right?" Nanako asked suddenly.

"I don't know," Naoto replied.

Nanako's heart plummeted, but she knew he wasn't being negative. He was just being honest.

Naoto hesitated before speaking again. "His Shadow was rather grotesque."

"A thing of nightmares," Nanako agreed. "It's hard to believe it came from him."

"I'm glad you were able to handle it," Naoto said, "since we had our own hands full."

"Barely," Nanako said. "As Yosuke said, it was dicey as all hell. I mean, I might've been able to take on Souji's Shadow alone, but there was Namatame, too."

"About that," Naoto said, cupping his chin. "If that was Namatame's Shadow, it doesn't fit the mold. The Shadow is supposed to be a separate entity from its host."

"It's not like we have all this down to a science. Maybe it's just an exception."

"It had a lot to say," Naoto continued.

"Did it? I didn't even notice."

"None of it was of interest," he confirmed, "which was strange, as well. I was expecting clues regarding his motives and methods."

"Kubo didn't offer any," Nanako murmured, "he barely breathed a word about Mr. Morooka, even though that was his only victim."

"True. The mind of a killer must be a difficult thing for this TV World to process..."

"And Kubo didn't even accept his Shadow."

 _Souji almost didn't, too,_ she thought with a shiver.

"I just wish I'd been able to put it all together. I've seen Namatame around town. I knew he had a truck. I've even talked to him!" Nanako sighed and rubbed her face. It was sweaty now from the atmosphere. "Fat lot of good that TV buyer list ended up being."

"I wonder if it was a coincidence, or if he's a very good actor. He was often in the shopping district in his uniform. How many times must his victims have passed by him and never noticed a thing?" Naoto's face twisted. "Myself included. This is the man who broke into my apartment..."

"Sou-chan wouldn't have thought anything of him, either, when he went out to buy takeout for dinner. Hell, Namatame might even have been waiting for him to do that this very night, but got impatient when it didn't happen." She began to shake. "What if that had happened? How long would it have taken for me to notice he was missing?"

"Not long," Naoto answered swiftly. "You are his big sis, after all. He's rarely been alone since you've arrived here. The real problem would be that you wouldn't have known what happened to him."

"Y-Yeah..."

"We caught him, Nanako-san," Naoto said then. "It's over."

But Nanako didn't feel like anything was over.

After a moment, she asked, "What happened on the outside? After I went in the TV."

"It seems that Saki-san began to call everyone. She doesn't have my number, however, so she called Kanji-san, who in turn called me and told me about the kidnapping. I... I nearly lost my head there, but Kanji-san talked me through it."

"Kanji wasn't panicking?" 

Naoto shook his head. "He was admirably level-headed. He shouted at me to calm down, and I did. After that, we made plans to meet with the others. Fortunately Yosuke-san is adept at sending group text messages. He soon had us all heading to his house to join you in the TV World."

"I left Saki-senpai to clean up the mess," Nanako said, feeling more than a little guilty.

In the pause that followed, an odd clinking noise sounded in the distance, like the rattling of chains. 

"Ah," said Naoto slowly. "Seta-san did arrive at home. I know, because she called the police immediately, and I was still at the station then. The commotion that followed... I'm glad Kanji-san was still on the line."

"She called the police? Not Adachi-san?"

Naoto smirked. "Are they not one and the same?"

Nanako smiled, just a little. Adachi must have been panicking too. That her little boy could bring so many people together...

"I met the others at Yosuke-san's house once the address was sent to me," Naoto continued. "We entered the TV World from his living room, then found the backlot for our equipment. From there, we headed to Kubo's dungeon and used our map and a bit of guesswork to find where you fell in." 

"I'm glad the map was useful," Nanako said. "It wasn't a waste of time."

"I don't think we would ever have found you without it," Naoto agreed. "The TV World is rather vast. Truthfully, there was a long stretch in which we thought we were only getting ourselves lost. We weren't helped by the number of Shadows we had to dispatch along the way. You know as well as I how easy it is to get disoriented in a fight."

"Yep. And I know for a fact I would've been lost without the help I got. I think that house was a living maze." Nanako hesitated. "The person who was helping me, he never spoke to you guys at all?"

"No," said Naoto. "It's possible there are beings here who are not antagonistic. As Teddie was."

"I wonder," said Nanako. "We might hear from him again at some point, but..." She sighed. "Anyway, you guys found the house eventually. What happened then?"

"We fought more Shadows. They were starting to become more and more agitated and violent. Well, they are always violent, but it was different in some way."

"They could sense the fog was going to lift soon," Nanako said. 

"Yes. At some point we made our way down a hallway and found Namatame. We gave chase and he dashed upstairs. You know what happened from there."

"Yeah," Nanako said, playing with the hair of Souji's bangs. She frowned to herself. It kinda sounded like that rattling was getting closer, but she couldn't see anything in the direction it came from. It was too dark and the steam almost as thick as the fog normally was.

"Senpai!"

Nanako's head jerked up. That hadn't been Naoto. Kanji was huffing and puffing up the shortcut's stairs. Though time was always difficult to gauge here, Nanako hadn't expected to see anyone from the team for a while longer still. It was a relief to see him nonetheless.

"Should be all downhill from here, Senpai," Kanji said after he caught his breath. "The TV's all set up. Yosuke-senpai, he left at Junes to call an ambulance for the little guy. We should be able to make it. The Shadows around there ain't much of a problem. Help me with the asshole and we can get going."

Nanako leaped to her feet to help secure Namatame onto Kanji's back while Naoto began to put his armor back on. When they were ready, Nanako took Souji one more time into her aching arms. Just a little longer, she told herself. 

Yamano's dungeon was far, farther than Nanako remembered, but Kanji had been right about the Shadows. She could probably fight them even with Souji in her arms. She didn't try, however, not when Naoto was doing so well with Kanji, who had no qualms about fighting even with Namatame on his back. Being the only one unburdened, Naoto took point with his gun in hand. He wasn't out of bullets, as it turned out, just being economical. He used them now whenever they encountered a Shadow that stood out as more threatening than the rest. 

After a lengthy battle, they paused to catch their breaths. Kanji was especially exhausted, but he refused to put Namatame down at this point.

"Shirogane-san... What do you think is gonna happen once we get outside with him?" Nanako asked, looking at Namatame.

"Hmm?"

"I only thought about this just now, but, the reason we're doing this is because regular people can't, right? The police can't even figure out the cause of death. What happens once we bring this guy outside, and he says his method was throwing people into the nearest television?"

"Ah," Naoto said. "The footage of my apartment, in addition to his actions tonight, should be sufficient proof of his involvement with the kidnappings, but he must have an accomplice within the police, else Mitsuo Kubo could never have been brought here. Once that individual is identified and accounted for, even my own misgivings should be cleared."

"What misgivings?"

"Mayumi Yamano was—"

"We got company," Kanji warned. He grunted as he lifted his shield and turned to face the approaching group of Shadows.

Some time later, they finally arrived at the castle dungeon, where Chie was leaning against the base of one of the rearing horse statues, waiting for them. 

Chie straightened as they approached, visibly wincing with the action from some unseen pain. "You guys made it!" 

"Where's Yukiko?" Nanako asked, panting for her breath.

"She's on the other side. C'mon, let's hurry."

Nothing more needed to be said. They followed her around the castle to the apartment complex. Before they entered Yamano's room, Nanako hesitated only a fraction of a second to survey the clear expanse of the TV World. She caught sight of red-tiled floor far off into the distance before heading through.

* * *

The beeping of the heart monitor was not comforting in the least.

Nothing would be comforting for a long while. Not while Souji was unconscious. Not while he was in this hospital bed, connected to an oxygen mask and an IV drip. 

Nanako sat at his bedside, holding his tiny hand in her own, hardly blinking as she watched the rise and fall of his breathing. Even that, as regular as it was, wasn't comforting.

The last few hours were a blur. She hardly remembered carrying Souji to the ambulance waiting outside the Amagi Inn. She did remember refusing to hand him over the paramedics, instead carrying him into the ambulance and laying him onto the stretcher herself. And after that, she'd refused to leave his side.

The police had wanted to talk to her and get her statement about the kidnapping. Naoto had intercepted them, fielding their questions for her and allowing her a temporary reprieve. Honestly, Nanako was in no condition to testify. Only pure headstrong willpower was keeping her exhaustion at bay. She'd held Souji for so long that she could hardly feel her arms.

She'd watched from this very chair as the doctors had seen to him. They'd shaved a portion of his hair to get at his head wound and stitch it up. The smallest comfort she had was that they didn't need to hook him up to a respirator, just an oxygen mask. 

Now it was just a waiting game. Waiting for Souji to wake up, or for herself to pass out. 

A slam suddenly tore her out of her reverie. The room's double doors had swung open. Swung open, no, they'd been kicked open. The woman standing in the doorway was Aunt Seta, her hands occupied by a big cardboard box. In a fraction of a second she surveyed the room, her haunted eyes going straight to Souji, and then she was rushing towards him with a strangled sob.

"Souji, Souji," she cried.

She dumped the contents of the box on the bed. Out came Foxie and other plushies, along with a dearth of papers. Nanako caught glimpses of multicolored dinosaurs and scribbly crayon drawings. She realized then that Aunt Seta hadn't thrown any of Souji's art away, she'd been scrapbooking. 

Nanako softly called her aunt's name, but the woman had thrown her arms over Souji on the bed and was crying. Loud, messy crying that not even an earthquake could interrupt. Eventually, the sobs subsided into wheezes. Aunt Seta wiped her eyes on the bedsheets, stained gray from her tears. 

They sat together in the darkness, each holding a hand on opposite sides of the bed, the silence broken only by the heart monitor. Neither of them said anything, but both wanted to say something. Nanako had so much to explain, so much to answer for, but she couldn't pry her eyes from Souji. The spot where they'd shaved his hair; the roots were both black and gray. She recalled noticing his hair was darker towards the nape of his neck, once. Probably on the same day she'd asked him whether he liked his haircut. _Mama cuts my hair for me,_ he'd said. What would he think of it now?

Saki had left for the night. Nanako insisted. Though she denied it, Nanako knew the ordeal had been as draining for her girlfriend as it had been for her, and she still had classes in the morning and a family to report to. For a fraction of a second, Nanako smiled. Saki would probably skip both.

"What happened?" Aunt Seta said suddenly, her voice hoarse, almost a whisper. Hell, maybe it had actually been a whisper, but for Nanako it was as though it filled the room completely.

Nanako opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She was still looking at Souji. What should she even say? What did she want to say? This was her fault, and they both knew it. The last time they were in a hospital, Aunt Seta had talked to her about her involvement in the investigation. Now, this happened. Nanako bit her lip, drawing blood. How was she going to explain anything to her aunt?

"Nanako-chan," said the woman, sounding haunted, "please say something. I have talked to the police, to your friends, but none of them could explain to me how... why... this happened to my baby. I know he wouldn't... be here now... without you, so please, just talk to me."

Souji wouldn't be there without her? That was probably right. Souji would be sleeping in his room, untouched, without her.

"Do you..." she started, but found that her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat. Aunt Seta shifted in her seat, Nanako could see in her peripheral vision, but said nothing. "Do you know about the Midnight Channel?" she finally asked.

There was a pause as the woman took in her question. Nanako didn't need to look at her to know it was probably the last thing she expected to hear. In the back of her mind she wondered whether she should call one of her friends, get their input. She had promised to include them, to never break her own rules again. Looking at the contents of the box her aunt had dumped on the bed, it just didn't seem important.

"The intended victims show up there as silhouettes," she continued, "before the kidnapping happens. This is probably because the culprit watched the damn thing, just like us, though we can't know for sure until we talk to him."

Namatame. Nanako had tried, but she couldn't even muster the energy to hate him.

"This culprit," her aunt said, "he was the one who broke into the tofu shop, yes? I remember the news mentioning that much. Does that mean the Kujikawa girl was an intended victim?"

Nanako nodded weakly. "We convinced her to go into hiding when we realized she was going to be a target, and as a result he got desperate."

"I had a feeling you were involved," her aunt said with a resigned sigh, "back when you asked those questions during dinner. Oh, you seemed innocent enough, but I knew better by then."

 _How long is she planning to retire? Did she say? My friends were wondering if she'll go to our school._ Of course her aunt had seen through it, when their last two encounters with Adachi-san had both ended badly.

"Nanako-chan," her aunt started once again, her voice no longer hoarse, "you said the culprit watched this Midnight Channel, just like you. What did you mean by that?"

"I'd heard the rumor shortly after getting here in Inaba." Nanako hesitated. This was a long shot, but... "Do you remember one night, maybe my third in your house, that had me making a fuss loud enough to wake..." she trailed off, still looking at her baby boy. Nanako clutched his hand tighter.

"I remember," said Aunt Seta. 

Nanako was surprised, but continued. "That night," she said, "I watched the Midnight Channel for the first time, and saw the silhouette of Naoki Konishi."

"Did that truly surprise you so much? The noise was quite loud."

Nothing escaped her aunt when she was actually paying attention, huh? Souji was like that too.

"No," she admitted. "I had no idea he would end up dead only a few days later. The truth is, right after the TV turned off again, a voice rang inside my head."

 _That might have been my awakening,_ she realized, though she could not remember the words. _The dream, and then that voice... but why was it different for me?_

"I got disoriented, knocked around a few things, and when the pain faded, stared at the silhouette again." Nanako took a deep breath. "Maybe in disbelief that the TV had turned on without my input, I reached out to touch it, and to my surprise, my hand went clean inside the screen."

Aunt Seta remained silent for a long moment after that. Nanako tried to guess what she was thinking and came up blank. Maybe.... Maybe she thought Nanako was playing with her, like Naoto had back when he'd forced her hand? That seemed so long ago now.

"I know this is hard to believe," she tried, "but—"

"There was a television," her aunt interrupted, "inside the truck."

Nanako raised her head for the first time, shock transparent on her face, but Aunt Seta wasn't looking at her, wasn't looking at anything in particular; the woman was deep in thought.

"There was blood there as well, signs of a scuffle," she continued. "No one could explain it. Saki-chan said you chased the kidnapper outside, but couldn't say where to. There weren't any footprints or blood anywhere close by, and the neighbors heard only that you called for your senpai. Did you... _enter_ the television alongside the culprit?"

"I did."

Aunt Seta slumped back in her seat.

"Chie and Yosuke didn't believe me," Nanako went on, "about the TV trying to eat my hand, I mean. Yosuke joked that Junes had some models large enough to fit a person, so we went there, and, well, I pushed him inside."

If her aunt had been at all surprised by her admission, she didn't show it.

"The world inside the television is covered by thick fog. Without special glasses, you can't see five feet in front of you, and you get tired much faster than you would in the real world," Nanako explained. Aunt Seta narrowed her eyes, looking away for a moment, but motioned for her to go on.

Nanako told her how they'd jumped after Yosuke once it was clear he wasn't coming out, how they found an apartment that seemingly belonged to Mayumi Yamano, and how they were ambushed by dangerous creatures.

"The next day," she said, deciding to skip the explanation on how exactly they got out because it was too painful for her to remember while in that hospital room, "we were told that Naoki Konishi had been found dead, hung to an antenna."

"I remember that day. I remember the night before as well. Souji had thought you were sick, and knocked on my door to ask for cold medicine." Aunt Seta paused, fidgeting in her seat. "I got upset with him. That had been a long day at work, and he knew better than to wake me up."

Nanako felt a weight in her heart, because she had never once wondered how Souji got that medicine, she'd simply assumed it was one of his many duties as a latchkey kid.

"But he insisted," she continued, "which was unusual for him. I suppose even back then, he already cared for you. Enough to stare me down with those stormy little eyes."

With her free hand, Aunt Seta caressed the area between his cheek and his ear, since his actual cheeks were obstructed by the oxygen mask. Her expression was somber.

The path with least regrets, she'd told Izaya once. Sounded like she wasn't walking it alone. Nanako thought her aunt might go on about some of her actions in the past, but she didn't, so they remained in silence. Eventually, it got unbearable, so Nanako continued her explanation.

"We went into the television again that day," she said, "and sure enough, there was a place there related to Naoki, a replica of the shopping district, overshadowed by Junes."

Aunt Seta didn't seem to have anything to add, so she went on: "That world sort of reflects your mind. Once you spend a certain amount of time there, it creates a structure based on aspects of yourself that you don't want to face. This structure is like a maze, and the corridors are packed with those dangerous creatures that attacked us on the first day."

Though, now that she'd seen a dungeon rise mere seconds after Souji was thrown inside, she wondered why one hadn't when she'd pushed Yosuke. It wasn't always a maze either, she realized. Ms. Yamano and Naoki-kun had both had fairly regular, though twisted, places as their dungeons.

"What about the victim?" her aunt asked, looking pointedly at Souji.

"The victim is always locked on the top floor," Nanako explained, "and though you'd think this would leave them relatively safe, the truth is they're locked in with a special type of creature that comes with the place. This creature claims to be you, knows your innermost secrets, your doubts, everything you're too scared to show the world, and it comes at you with that knowledge. If you reject it, it turns into a monster and attacks you, but if you accept it—"

"—you obtain the power to go into that world freely?" her aunt guessed, cutting her off.

Nanako nodded. Aunt Seta pondered on her words for a moment, then asked, "What happens if you don't reject nor accept it?"

"I didn't find out for sure until today," Nanako admitted. "The fog in that world reflects the weather in our own. Auntie, you leave for work early, you must have noticed the thick fog that sometimes covers Inaba in the mornings."

"I have. There was some fuss about it on the news earlier this year, but with the murders, that was all but forgotten. Driving in that fog is a nightmare," she added humorlessly. Nanako understood. The real nightmare was waiting in that hospital room.

"The fog is actually quite thick tonight," her aunt said after a moment. "I noticed on the way here, though the policemen that were searching for you had complained about it as well."

"Right," Nanako said, "and this means the fog in that world has lifted. Those creatures, we call them Shadows, and they get violent when the fog lifts, even more so than usual, and even," she choked up, the battle still fresh in her mind, "even _your_ Shadow. If you don't accept it before the fog lifts, it will kill you. This is how Mayumi Yamano and Naoki Konishi died."

"Souji—" her aunt started almost immediately, but Nanako shook her head.

"Souji accepted his Shadow, though yeah, it... it wasn't easy."

Aunt Seta breathed a sigh of relief, then opened her mouth in horror as understanding washed over her.

"As soon as he wakes up, we need to teach him to be careful around TVs," Nanako confirmed, "here in Inaba, anyway."

"This... phenomenon is confined to Inaba?"

Nanako simply nodded. In the end, none of them knew _why_ this was happening in Inaba, and so there was nothing she could say to reassure Aunt Seta about her hometown.

"This has been going on since the day you arrived," her aunt mused.

"Yukiko was the next victim. The police wouldn't have believed us, and other than the culprit, there wasn't anyone else who could enter that world. To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to believe me, either."

"This is a lot to take in," Aunt Seta conceded, "but, you haven't ever lied to me, Nanako-chan, and there are certain things that..." She sighed. "I remember that one day, Souji was trying to tell me about some jar of fog you'd shown him, he said the fog disappeared once he put on your special glasses. I brushed him aside, figuring his imagination was running wild, or that you'd done a magic trick. I was more interested in this new friend he said he'd met, one Naoto Shirogane. Ryotaro warned me you might try to elope with him—"

_Dad did what?!_

"—and told me to keep an eye open."

"Oh my god."

Nanako wanted to bury her face in her hands, but found herself smiling instead, however briefly.

"There were other things, too," her aunt continued, apparently unaware of her plight. "For instance, the day your teacher died, one of your friends came to us, saying you might have been kidnapped, but he backed down once my brother tried to get more details."

"I'd never realized you and Souji were so similar," Nanako said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Souji is always paying attention," Nanako explained, "even when it seems he isn't. Like an elephant, he never forgets." She paused. "I once used that phrase to describe my dad."

"I do forget," her aunt said quietly. "I forgot about Golden Week. Souji was so happy to see me when I arrived from my business trip. I was happy to see him too, but thinking mostly of my bed. I'd only brought him a candy bag. Did you know he never opened it? I found it, when I was looking for his toy fox to bring here."

Nanako looked at Foxie, sitting upright on the hospital bed. Come to think of it, she'd given her to Souji as a gift during Golden Week. That had been a fun holiday. Right underneath her was the Mother's Day card he'd never had the chance to give his mom. The words 'I LOVE YOU' filled up most of the card, though the many, many hearts around it had faded slightly.

"I thought you threw everything we put up on the fridge away," she confessed, eliciting real shock from her aunt for the first time during that conversation. "I mean, you took them down so fast, the drawings, the flowers, everything. I had no idea you were hoarding them."

Aunt Seta closed her eyes, quirking her mouth like she had something to say. Evidently, she'd had no idea either.

"No wonder you thought you had me figured out," she did say, a good while later, and then they both went back to watching Souji.

"We couldn't recognize him, you know," Nanako said. "Last night."

Aunt Seta shifted in her seat. "The Midnight Channel?" 

Nanako hummed. "It shows whoever is in the public eye. Rise was easy to predict, but... we never considered the internet. There was a video of his presentation during the field trip to my school. Souji was too shy to say his line out loud, and Takeyoshi-kun had to shout it for him. I guess that made an impression. I should have realized."

"That wasn't your fault," her aunt said softly.

"Everything was my fault," she replied. "I couldn't... just how... how could _he_ recognize him when I couldn't?"

"Nanako," her aunt said, dropping the honorific, and this alone made her look up, "you brought normal back into our lives."

Aunt Seta got up from her chair and walked over to Nanako's side of the bed, placing her hand over the one that was holding her son's.

"Souji is happier than he has ever been," she said, "he loves you. I love you, as though you were my own daughter. I know he wouldn't be here without you. Not just here in this bed, but here, _alive_ , safe and sound."

Nanako had been clutching Souji's hand the entire time. Right then, she felt a squeeze.

* * *

Aunt Seta excused herself to use the restroom. Nanako just nodded. Truth be told, she probably had to go too. She didn't know. She didn't remember the last time she went, and she didn't care. It wasn't important.

Idly, she wondered whether the door her aunt had swung open to leave the room would ever click shut. The silence outside was too loud. Nanako glanced at the doorway, upset that her aunt was holding it open for whatever reason, but the one standing there wasn't her.

Nanako would recognize that wavy hair anywhere. "Senpai?" she asked softly. "I told you to go home."

Saki strode towards her, letting the door shut behind her. "I did," she replied. "I just felt like coming back. Though," she added with a slight smile, "only family is supposed to visit right now, you know?"

Nanako chuckled without feeling while her girlfriend moved to her side, wrapping an arm around her back and tugging her into an awkward side hug.

"This is your influence," Saki said, and the pride in her voice was almost enough to make Nanako smile for real.

Saki was easy to read, once you got to know her. There was a pause as she took in her surroundings. Nanako watched with some interest as her girlfriend set her eyes on the heart monitor, beeping in the corner, and then the oxygen mask, which fogged up slightly with each breath Souji took. Anyone could tell she loved him almost as much as she loved Nanako herself. 

Unfortunately, Nanako wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling quite yet, especially after the conversation with her aunt, so she settled on resting her head on Saki's shoulder, comforted by the warmth coming both from her and Souji, whose hand she refused to let go.

"How are you holding up?" Saki asked.

"I never expected to be this side of the question," Nanako admitted. _I don't... I don't want sympathy,_ her girlfriend had said, so long ago. "Honestly, so much has happened, I don't even know. I probably won't find out, not for a while."

"I got your friends together as fast as I could," Saki said. "There was a bit of phone tag, since I didn't have everyone's number, but it turns out Hana-chan's good at group texts."

Naoto had said so as well, but what Nanako wanted to say was...

"Thank you," she murmured against her girlfriend's neck. "Thank you so much. I wouldn't have been able to do it without them, without your help. It was hell in there, Senpai."

Saki squeezed her side. "I can't even imagine."

"Sou-chan's dungeon was his own house. Everything was big and gloomy. Except for..." Nanako paused to swallow before continuing. "Except for my room. That's the room I found him in."

"He loves you," Saki said.

Nanako looked at him for what must have been the hundredth time.

"He knows that it won't be forever," Nanako added quietly.

Saki raised her eyes for a moment, then shook her head. "Souji is scared of losing you," she said, "but you won't let that happen."

"I won't," Nanako confirmed, feeling the palm of his hand with her thumb, "but Senpai, seeing his love and his fears firsthand like that, it was... it was just... too much."

"I try not to think about what it must've been like for my brother," Saki murmured. "With my family's store and the Junes."

_I wish Saki would run away with her college boyfriend already so I can stop hearing it…_

"It's probably best if you don't," Nanako said, then blinked, suddenly remembering something. "Oh. That's right, I haven't told you. That Junes is right on top of Kubo's dungeon. Kubo was thrown into the TV at the police station, so unless there's a cafe like, right next to the station with a big TV or something..."

"Naoki was thrown in there too?"

Nanako nodded without moving her head from Saki's shoulder. "Might even be the same TV."

Saki was quiet for a while after that. She began to play with Souji's feet through the bedsheets, squeezing each toe one by one between her finger and thumb.

"Nanako," she said. "I... I'm sorry. If I'd just called you instead of coming over, he wouldn't be..."

"What?" Nanako frowned as it dawned on her what Saki was trying to say. "No! No, that wasn't your fault, Senpai. You tried to warn me."

"I distracted you right when the killer came for him."

"Even if Sou-chan didn't answer the door," Nanako said, "the culprit would've found another way. Remember, this guy gave Adachi-san a bloody lip. He was determined. And with those videos, you made me figure it out. I wouldn't have reacted fast enough if you hadn't. I might not even have been close enough to the door!"

There was another long silence.

"You saved him," Saki finally said. "It's too late for my brother, but you didn't let him take yours..." She looked at Nanako with watery eyes. "Thank you."

"Yeah..." Nanako said, her own eyes watering up. "Yeah."

Finally, she realized what she should be feeling. 

Saki hugged her. Nanako hugged her back. They were both crying.

* * *

Nanako woke up to someone touching her hair. Petting it. Without opening her eyes, she leaned into the touch, enjoying the feel of fingers on her scalp. They were so soft, so careful not to tangle her hair when they moved. As the daze from sleep wore off, she wondered who could be the one doing that. Saki had promised her that she would leave and get some rest, and promises were important, so...

Nanako immediately snapped awake, moving up from wherever she'd been lying so fast that the chair she was in almost plunged backwards, but she managed to stop it at the last moment because someone was pulling on her hand. Nanako straightened the chair, looking in disbelief at the hand that was holding hers, trailing up to the wrist and then the arms and finally to the light blue hospital gown. No matter how dark the room was, she would never mistake that beaming little smile.

"Sou-chan!" she shouted, jumping from her chair and bringing him into a hug. The IV drip that had been hooked to his arm disconnected, eliciting a short yelp, but the strength with which he hugged her back told Nanako everything she needed to know about his health.

"Big sis," he said, and feeling his breath against her neck gave her more joy than she could have ever imagined.

"I was so worried about you," she whispered, kissing his ear and his neck as many times as she possibly could.

"B-Big sis, t-that tickles!" he said, trying to worm away from her grasp, giggling all the while.

Nanako set him down on the bed and took one very long look. There were bags under his eyes, and he looked a little bit pale compared to the previous day, but otherwise he seemed to be in perfect health. The gauze on the spot where they'd shaved his hair remained perfectly white, no visible blood or pus, which was probably a good sign too, or maybe the nurses had redressed the wound during the night, though she doubted they could manage with her sleeping on his bedside. There was, however, a slight trail of blood from where the IV drip had been. Nanako was hesitant to release his hand, but she did so and quickly found some cotton and a bandaid, and seconds later his arm was good as new.

"Good thing we didn't disconnect the heart monitor," she said as though she was sharing a secret, "or there would be a lot of people in this room right now."

Souji giggled. The sound made her eyes water, but Nanako was determined not to cry. Not in front of him.

"Whatever happened to your oxygen mask, anyway?" she asked instead.

"C-Couldn't breathe..." he said sheepishly, pointing to the other side of his bed, where it was neatly laid down.

"Did you wake up just now, or have you been up for a while?" she asked, worried that he might have spent too much time alone in that gloomy hospital room.

"B-Been up for a while," he said, "but I had Foxie with me."

Now that his hand was free from her grip, he raised the toy fox with both hands, maybe to show that she'd been good company. Nanako went ahead and pushed Foxie forward, making her hit his cute little nose.

"Boop," she said, and he giggled again.

"A-And these," he said. "Look." He picked up a piece of paper from a perfectly arranged stack. Nanako ignored the fact that this six year old boy had gone through the trouble to pick up every scattered drawing and project he'd ever made that year and organized it first thing in the morning, and instead focused on what he wanted to show her. Nanako expected it to be the Mother's Day card, or maybe a pterodactyl, but instead he showed her... she had to squint to see it properly, she didn't know whether it was a dinosaur or a rainbow, an ugly rainbow, but then she noticed the goofy hand drawn smile.

Nanako had colored that stegosaurus during her first week in Inaba. Aunt Seta had saved that up too? Nanako was so stumped that she couldn't find anything to say, but she didn't need to, as her cousin wasn't finished.

"And... you were here with me the whole time... holding my hand. I dreamed about you, big sis. T-There was a doggie there too."

Nanako flinched for a moment, knowing that he had dreamed about the TV World... but the memories seemed to make him smile, so she decided to worry about it later.

"I always thought you were more of a cat person, Sou-chan," she said, squeezing his right cheek a little, not enough to be a pinch, but enough to make him giggle some more. Nanako wanted to hear that sound for the rest of her life.

"C-Cats and dogs can get along... Big bro showed me, on his phone."

Oh, did he now? Maybe she hadn't been wrong in her assessment that the Detective Prince had stayed home watching videos when she'd taken Souji and Marie out shopping the other day.

"B-Big sis... why are we in the h-hospital?"

Nanako had done this many times now. Explaining the TV World after rescuing someone, that is. But... Souji wasn't "someone."

"...Do you remember answering the door last night?" she asked.

Souji scrunched up his face, trying hard to remember. Nanako was too busy holding back tears to pay more attention to his reactions, but eventually he said:

"It wasn't Mama."

"No, it wasn't."

The heart rate monitor started to beep just a bit faster.

"I got you back, though," she said, squeezing his hand. "I got you back."

Neither of them said anything for the next few minutes. Souji was staring into the distance, maybe trying to remember more, or maybe just tired. Nanako was just happy he was awake. They stayed like that for a little while, until Souji put his hand to his head. He frowned when he found the gauze there.

"I-Itchy," he complained.

"Your head got hit there," Nanako said. "It will be itchy while it heals. You have to be strong, okay? Don't mess with it."

He was carefully feeling the area around the gauze. Then he let his hand drop with a sigh. His hair wasn't going to be the same after this, but that was something they could worry about later.

"Big sis, umm..." he started. Nanako noticed he was pouting all of a sudden, and she didn't think it was because of the wound.

"Yes, Sou-chan?" she asked.

"I feel... wet..."

"Hm? Oh, right," Nanako said. "The nurses put you in a diaper, so you wouldn't, you know, wet the bed."

"Diaper..." he repeated.

His pouting became more pronounced. Nanako shifted in her seat, recalling how his Shadow had so resentfully declared that he was ‘a big boy.' She braced herself for him to say it now.

"I-I hope I can take it off soon..." he said instead, looking down and fidgeting with his sheets.

Nanako relaxed and sent him a warm smile. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Actually," she said, "I'd really like a diaper right about now."

Yeah, it suddenly hit her that she urgently needed to go.

"Big sis!" he cried, scandalized.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" she said, laughing. "I don't want to go, though."

"Y-You gotta," he said, crossing his arms.

Nanako sighed exaggeratedly, throwing herself over his legs. "Fine," she said. "I just don't wanna leave you, you know?"

Souji stroked her back amicably, as though she was the one who needed comforting, and after a few seconds, she got up and went.

Aunt Seta was sleeping on the couch by the door. Nanako held it open with a chair so Souji could see his mom while she was away, then grabbed some blankets to cover her. Nanako was grateful to her; she'd done her a kindness by allowing her to stay in the room all night. Though she didn't remember which arcana her aunt belonged to, she was sure that their link would never break.

With that in mind, she tiptoed her way to the bathroom, leaving a smiling Souji behind.

* * *

Nanako returned to the room to find company. A number of nurses were fussing over Souji. Nanako hovered nearby, not wanting to get in the way but too curious about the tests they were running to stay away. She asked a few questions but mainly got only one word answers. None of the nurses seemed overly concerned about Souji, and in fact, they didn't reconnect the IV drip, though they did change his diaper for a fresh one. He wasn't to walk around for a while longer still.

After the nurses left, Nanako expected to be alone with her cousin for at least a little while, but she heard some voices outside the open door. Aunt Seta was awake and chatting with someone. Then they were entering the room and...

"Dad?" Nanako stared, her mouth still open. 

"You look terrible," Dojima said.

"Wh—" Nanako began. "What kind of 'hello' is that?"

Dojima smiled in response, but it was strained. He didn't look much better than she probably did. Nanako thought it over real quick and realized he'd probably once again dropped everything to be here when he'd heard the news.

She tackled him hard in a hug that made him go 'oof.' Soon he was patting her back. He'd missed her too. 

"U-Umm..." said Souji. 

"Oh, Souji," Aunt Seta said. "This is your uncle."

"Yeah," Dojima said, letting Nanako go so that he could address the boy in the bed. "I missed seeing you when I was here back in July. I wish I could've stayed then, but... And the time before that, you were still in diapers. I even remember changing them."

"No," Souji said. "I saw you."

Dojima blinked and brought his hand up to scratch his stubbly chin. "You did? I don't remember."

"I-I was worried about big sis," Souji said, "so I peeked... and you were reading."

"You could've said something," Dojima said. "I don't bite."

"His bark is way worse than his bite," Nanako agreed.

Souji's cheeks were all rosy. Probably he'd been too intimidated by Dojima to even think about interrupting his reading.

"I have a diaper now," Souji observed.

Dojima chuckled. Nanako had always loved how rumbly it was. "Are you saying I should change it? Just like old times?"

"N-No!"

Even Aunt Seta was laughing after that.

Dojima moved to the bed and crouched at Souji's side. "You're a brave kid," he said in what Nanako knew as his dead serious voice. "I'm proud of you for getting through this. No one likes to be in the hospital, but I know you'll be out of here in no time."

Souji smiled at him. "Big sis was here, so... I wasn't scared."

"I'm glad," Dojima said. "I've been worrying all year if it was the right decision to send her here to live with you. Now I know it wasn't a mistake."

"Ryotaro," Aunt Seta murmured.

He turned to Nanako. "What's going on here? I talked with a cop outside but he didn't know much. Yesterday, your aunt said you chased after some kidnapper... and by the looks of it, you got him, too. I can't make heads or tails of this."

"B-Big sis... got me back," Souji contributed, but the scowl on her father's face only deepened.

Aunt Seta stepped forward. "I called your father yesterday," she explained, though it sounded almost like an apology. "I was waiting for the police and didn't know what else to do. The truck was still right outside our house, and the neighbors were gathering."

Nanako opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Nervously, she glanced from her dad to her aunt and then back to her dad again. On some level, she knew she couldn't hide the truth from him when she'd already spilled the beans to her aunt, but...

"Dad," she said, her voice cracking. "I can tell you what we know about the case."

"The case?" Dojima repeated, incredulous. "I told you not to get involved."

"I was involved long before you said that," she argued.

"Nanako—"

"Dad, he goes after whoever is in the public eye, okay? We thought that meant the news, but turns out the internet is important too."

"Again with the we?" he asked, then shook his head. "Nevermind that. I don't want to know about the case. I want to know what happened last night."

"Dad, you can't have one without the other," she tried, but Dojima wasn't having any of it.

"Where did you go, Nanako?" he asked, stepping closer.

"I... sorry... sorry, just... I need Mom to be here," she said instead.

That gave him some pause. "What?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I need Mom to be here," she repeated, "with you. Both of you need to know."

Dojima's expression hardened. "Nanako, your mom is overseas, you know she can't come here just because you want her to."

"I know," Nanako said, "but this is not something I can explain over the phone, and... and I can only say it so many times. Dad, you two should hear it together."

"Damn it, Nanako," he cursed, making Souji wince, "why can't you just trust me? Do you know how worried I was after you fell from the bridge? I had to wait the whole summer for you to talk to me."

"I trust you, Dad, but..."

"But what? What the hell is going on?"

"Ryotaro," Aunt Seta said in a tone Nanako had never heard her use. It cut through their argument like butter and made the room fall deathly silent. Nanako shifted her glance to Souji, and saw that he was looking at his mom with quiet wonder.

Dojima stared at his sister. "What?" he challenged.

"I know this year has been hard on you," she said, "being away from both your daughter and your wife, working on your mystery case without anyone to talk to, having to rely on your estranged sister to take care of your daughter for you. I realize that her not wanting to talk to you must be very frustrating, but please stop and think about what she must be going through for a moment. In just a few hours, she's going to have to deal with the police. Our house is swarming with reporters. Yes," she added, after seeing the shock on Nanako's face, "some version of the story is already out."

"No," Nanako murmured.

"Ryotaro," her aunt repeated, "did you come here to help your daughter, or did you come to be one more obstacle for her to overcome?"

There was a very long pause as Dojima took in his sister's words. Nanako couldn't read him, and she wouldn't dare get between him and her aunt, so she just extended her hand for Souji to hold, not wanting to make him any more nervous.

Eventually, her dad sighed.

"Damn it, I can't win against you, sis," he said, scratching his head.

"You never could," Aunt Seta said with a triumphant smile.

"S-Sis?" Souji piped up then, looking at his mom.

"Big sis, actually," Nanako said. "Your mom is my dad's big sis. Is that confusing?"

"No," Souji said. "I knew it... b-but..."

He probably wasn't used to hearing his mom being called that. Nanako understood; it was weird for her too.

"Ryotaro used to call me 'big sis' all the time, if you can believe it," Aunt Seta said in a conspiratorial tone, "but as he grew older, he became embarrassed whenever he was seen with me, saying only 'sis' and, eventually, simply moving on to my name."

Souji tugged on Nanako's sleeve. "I'll a-always call you big sis..." he promised, and she gave him a big hug.

Dojima sighed again, obviously displeased, but the tension was gone, and he couldn't argue his point any further. "All right, Nanako. If your aunt is backing you up on this, well," he paused to sigh a third time, "I trust her. But you are going to tell me as soon as your mom is back, and not a day later. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I'm not trying to hide anything from you, just..." Things were too complicated, and she had no idea how her dad would react. If he decided to send her back to Tokyo, she'd argue, but no matter how much of a delinquent she might have become, Nanako was still a daddy's girl at heart, so... she wouldn't say no.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, honey," Dojima said, his voice much softer.

"Me, too," Nanako replied, and that was that.

* * *

Souji started to get restless cooped up in that room with no windows, so they called the nurse and, after some back and forth, managed to get a wheelchair for him. Nanako had been in that hospital before, after all, and she knew just the place to cheer him up.

Nanako let him play with her phone while she wheeled him there, flanked by both Dojima and Aunt Seta, when Souji suddenly gasped.

"P-Partner!" he cried. 

Nanako scanned ahead. "That guy is here already?" she mumbled. Maybe it would be a little suspicious for them to be seen together so soon after Namatame was caught, since as far as the police were aware Yosuke had caught Kubo last time, but she was glad to see him anyway.

Or, she would have been if she could see him. Yosuke was nowhere in sight.

"Where?" Nanako asked, bending over so she could see Souji better. That was when she realized his eyes were still glued to her cracked screen, which showed...

Yosuke, not wearing a shirt and with a bra on his head.

Aunt Seta raised an eyebrow at her, while Dojima crouched down to look.

"Nanako, whose bra is this?!" he demanded almost immediately, and as a result she burst out laughing, so loud that the nurses had to come over to chastise her. Oh man, good thing she didn't have any other compromising pictures in there, or she really would have been in trouble. Really, how Souji had even found that among all the other pictures she'd digitized was hilarious enough on its own. 

"I took that one with the good camera, so we can have it framed if you want, Sou-chan!" Nanako said cheerfully. Souji obviously approved. 

Dojima glared at her fiercely after that, but she'd had enough experience points by then, from dealing with experienced glarers such as Margaret and Mr. Morooka. 

Nanako didn't want to give her dad a heart condition though, so after a few seconds, she raised her hands in defense. 

"Calm down, calm down!" she said, trying hard not to laugh. "Sou-chan, pass me the phone, will you?" Souji did so, and after a few swipes she found the photo she'd snapped during Golden Week, showing her little cousin in an identical costume. 

The bra was different, though. 

"Lieutenant Briefs has an admirer, is all!" she declared.

Aunt Seta put a hand to her chin. "If you took it with the good camera," she said, "then was that during the field trip to Gekkoukan?"

"Guilty as charged!"

Dojima grunted. "Chisato told me you had some fun on that trip. I never know what exactly she means when she says that."

Nanako grinned at him. The Dojima family had an understanding, see. Nanako would talk to her mother about everything, and anything too scandalous Chisato would bring to her father. Everything her mom thought was okay would stay between them. Of course, she couldn't hide some things from her dad, but Nanako had a feeling he ended up finding out even what they'd kept from him through his detective instincts anyway.

They reached the hall that Nanako had almost called a second home a few months ago. She wheeled Souji right to the window with the view of the solitary tree outside. It was never the best view, but that little bit of green always brightened up her day. 

Souji did smile a little upon seeing the tree, but not long after his expression changed to a puzzled frown.

"B-Big sis..." he said, holding up the phone for her to see, "it says you have a... t-text message."

Nanako wrinkled her nose while scanning the message. Yukiko had never once texted her. In fact, she was the type to answer texts with a call, which was all sorts of wrong, so Nanako made a point to never text her, either. What could she possibly want?

'Please, don't worry about it. We were in a hurry, and yours was the best idea. I've been asked some difficult questions, but... I doubt things have been easy for you, either. I appreciate your concern, though.

(Don't forget to delete this message.)'

Not five seconds later, before Nanako could even get properly confused, the phone rang. Souji nearly dropped it, startled by the ringtone, but Dojima caught it. Nanako exchanged looks with him before he handed it over. 

As expected, it was Yukiko.

"Nanako," she said, "sorry about that. I meant to send it to Yosuke-kun."

 _Right, the plan,_ Nanako thought, realizing her father was listening. _I should keep this short,_ she decided. 

"No problem," she said, "though you could have said so with another text!"

Yukiko giggled over the line, then sighed. "I should get back to it."

"Me too," Nanako replied. There was an uncomfortable silence as neither of them hung up, and she knew why, but Dojima was still... oh, screw it. "Souji is awake," she added, "he was playing with the phone, even, before you called."

"I shouldn't interrupt him further, then," Yukiko said, sounding distinctly relieved. "Thank you, Nanako."

Nanako sighed as she hung up the phone, because her father was frowning again. Aunt Seta eyed them both with polite concern, but though she understood the situation, she'd already said her piece; getting into another argument with her brother would only strain their relationship more.

"Why did your friend say you should delete the text?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"Because the police might confiscate their phones," she answered quietly. No point in hiding it now.

Dojima was quiet for a while.

"That message wasn't for me," she went on, "but it was about me, in a way."

"About the case, you mean," he said, and she nodded. "Back when you went missing, I read your texts, hoping to find something that might tell me what happened."

Nanako swallowed hard, but kept her expression neutral.

"There wasn't anything about your teacher, only that he'd been a victim," he continued, "and your friends seemed more concerned with the circumstances than the fact he'd died, or the effect it would have on you. I wasn't sure your girlfriend was telling the truth until you woke up and confirmed it for me."

"Most of them d-didn't know," she said, a lump forming in her throat, "how important he was to me."

Dojima's expression softened, and he walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, honey," he said, squeezing her lightly. "I didn't mean to dredge up painful memories."

"I don't want them to be painful," she murmured, leaning her head against his hand. "A-Auntie took me to visit his g-grave, you know."

"I know," he said.

They stayed like that for a while. From the corner of her eyes, Nanako saw that Souji was whispering something to his mother, and then she wheeled him between them, where he patted them both as high as he could reach—the leg for Dojima, the sides for Nanako.

"I saw Papa..." Souji said solemnly. "Mama t-took away his pictures, but he was there."

Aunt Seta's face was ashen.

"I-I wasn't hiding them from you," she tried, and then paused, as though she wasn't sure herself.

"It's okay, Mama..." he said, looking up at her. "I remember him now."

This did very little to comfort her aunt.

"There weren't any texts about him," Dojima said, pointing with his head to her little cousin. 

Aunt Seta crouched down to talk with her son, and Nanako dearly wanted to listen in, but she couldn't break eye contact with her dad now. 

"I didn't see that phone ring or beep until just now," he said, "which means your friends already know what you won't tell me."

Nanako couldn't do anything but nod once again; her father's detective instincts were as sharp as ever.

Dojima sighed, though. "What can you tell me?" he asked after a few minutes.

"Okay, so we didn't know how to explain how I'd rescued him," Nanako said, a grimace coming over her features, "and we were in a hurry because he was injured and we didn't know how bad it was."

Dojima glanced at Souji, specifically at the gauze on his head, and nodded, his own expression mirroring hers.

"I didn't expect the story to spread so fast," she admitted. "I mean, we barely got away with bringing in the copycat killer last time, so—"

"Mitsuo Kubo?" Dojima interrupted. "Are you saying you captured him? I watched the press release. One of your friends got into a scuffle with him, isn't that right?"

"I thought you said you weren't interested in the case," she teased, though there was no feeling behind her words. Dojima just grunted, so she went on. "Anyway, we decided to call an ambulance to the Amagi Inn."

"What were you doing all the way over there?" he asked, but her mouth was a thin line, and she didn't respond. He was annoyed, but didn't press her further.

Nanako explained, without using names, that Yukiko had sent a frantic text message to Yosuke, and that he'd jumped to conclusions and called an ambulance, thinking she'd commit suicide, or so they were going to tell the police, though they did ensure the timestamps would be accurate. "This is why my friend told whoever that message was meant for that they should delete it," she finished.

Dojima appraised her story with only a slight frown. "I see," he said simply, "but what are you going to tell the police about last night?"

Though he would never say it outright, his meaning was clear: he was asking her what lies she was going to be telling the police regarding her catching Namatame.

"I chased the culprit through the fog and knocked him down by the Amagi Inn," she replied stiffly, hating that she had to lie to him, even indirectly like this. "There was an ambulance there by complete coincidence. I didn't have the time to get my phone when everything happened, so... I couldn't have called it myself."

Aunt Seta raised her head then.

"And you couldn't have asked for help there, because the ambulance would have taken that much longer. Is that what you're saying?" she asked.

Nanako didn't want to take credit for it, but with her father there... and they really were thinking along those lines, so she nodded, but then Aunt Seta unexpectedly got up and gave her a hug.

"Thank you," her aunt said, and being so close, Nanako could tell she was starting to sob. "Thank you."

"Only the best for my Souji," Nanako said weakly, echoing something her aunt had told her a long time ago, and although her dad had more to say, he decided it could wait.

* * *

Nanako was telling Souji about a couple of birds she'd seen nesting in the tree outside while she'd been in the hospital when the conversation was interrupted by her own gurgling belly. Souji giggled at the sound. Nanako opened her mouth to say something when a much louder gurgle followed. Everyone turned their heads towards her, but actually, the sound came from Aunt Seta! The woman nimbly avoided embarrassment by saying she would visit the cafeteria and get food for everyone.

When she was gone, Nanako got their attention back to the birds. Though the nest was still there, there wasn't any sign of them, but she wasn't gonna let that ruin their day. "Sou-chan, imagine how big a pterodactyl's nest would be," Nanako said, crouching besides him. "Gosh, it'd take up the whole tree!"

"Y-Yeah!" Souji said.

Dojima just shook his head in amusement. Yeah, he remembered Nanako's dinosaur phase when she'd been Souji's age... and the Doraemon phase, and the Batman phase, and the pirate phase… of course, she'd never outgrown the Loveline phase. Not until recently, anyway.

"There they are!"

Nanako looked up to find Kanji heading towards them, and with Yuuta in tow too, though she was slightly disappointed that he wasn't perched on Kanji's shoulders like Souji had been all that time ago. It really was a shame, because Yuuta was carrying a basket that was the perfect size to be set right on Kanji's head.

Kanji slowed as he got closer, though, glancing conspicuously behind him. Around the corner came Takeyoshi-kun and his mom. Nanako had expected her dad's presence to give Kanji pause, but the unpleasant woman was the one to stop halfway to stared at Dojima, who stared back at her evenly. The two adults sized each other up without saying a word.

Nanako was wondering whether there was a story there when Takeyoshi-kun's mom looked down at her son.

"Say hello to your friend, dear," she said somewhat hastily, pushing him forward.

"Hi, Souji," Takeyoshi-kun said. "Were you born in this hospital too?"

"I... I don't know," Souji replied.

"Why are you asking that now?" Kanji shook his head and rolled his eyes before moving towards Souji too. He bent down to his address him, which took some effort. "How you doin', little guy?"

"H-Happy," Souji said, and his little grin proved it.

"Knew you'd pull through."

"Yuuta," Takeyoshi-kun called, motioning to the boy, "come on!"

"Yeah!" Yuuta said. "Here, here, look what we made!"

He came forward with the basket. It was filled to the brim with paper cranes, a dazzling array of different sizes and colors and oh, and the big green one in the middle was made of felt!

"That must've taken a while to make," Nanako thought out loud.

Kanji just shrugged it off. "Didn't have time for a crochet project," he said, though considering how fast he'd knitted that Teddie doll, he was probably lying, "and this guy," he set his hand on Yuuta's head, "came up to me with the idea."

Almost imperceptibly, Takeyoshi-kun's mom shifted where she stood. Nanako noticed now that she was standing kind of away from everyone, especially after the staredown with Dojima. She wondered what her problem was.

Well, it didn't matter now. The kids were chatting.

"Everyone's worried about you," Yuuta said. "I told my mom and we wanted to help. A-And I told Takeyoshi-kun, so we all made these together!"

Souji was took out some of the cranes and marveled at them. "L-Look at this one, big sis! It's pink!"

"I bet I know who made that one," Nanako said with a teasing lilt.

Yuuta did a little dance and sang, "I did, I did!"

Nanako raised her eyebrows at how candid he was, then grinned. It had been so hard for him to admit that was his favorite color back then, but look at him now... the way he'd talked about his mom so naturally, too, was a relief. Nanako felt an odd sort of pride welling up inside her, but decided not to comment for now, simply hugging the boy instead.

"One for you, big sis," Souji said, handing her a paper crane, "and one for you, uncle... and one for T-Ta-chan...'s Mama..."

Takeyoshi-kun's face went beet red, maybe due to the nickname, but then he turned to his mom with a calculating look.

"Um, thank you," the woman said, though she had to get closer to accept it.

Takeyoshi-kun snickered. "You gave her one I made! The chance of that is only 5 in 39."

"Sou-chan is a lucky boy," Nanako said.

"All the luckier," Dojima said suddenly, "now that he has all these cranes. You're supposed to keep them for yourself, you know." He tried to hand back the folded paper that had been pressed into his hands, but Souji was shaking his head, totally refusing.

"Ah, don't be like that, Dad!" Nanako said. "If he wants to give them out, let him."

"D-Dad?" Yuuta asked, eyes wide. "Wait, are you... big sis's dad?"

Yuuta looked up at the imposing figure of Dojima, who peered down at him, bemused in that way of dads who didn't really know how to deal with kids.

"That's right, I forgot to introduce him!" Nanako said, smacking herself on the head. "Everyone, this is my dad, detective Ryotaro Dojima of the Tokyo PD!"

Dojima chuckled, and Nanako smiled at him. Yuuta, meanwhile, kept staring at her dad with his mouth wide open. Then he declared, "You kissed a boy!"

"Oh my god," Nanako said under her breath, wondering what kind of damage control she'd have to do after this.

Dojima, for his part, was as wide eyed as Yuuta had been a moment ago.

"Wh-Where did you hear that?!" he said eventually, having finally found his voice. "Nanako, what tales are you telling these kids about me?"

"It's not true?" Yuuta asked.

Dojima rubbed his face. "Is this about Takeshi?" he asked after a moment.

"Yes," Nanako said, wanting to hear the full story herself.

"I see." Dojima sighed, opened his mouth to say more, then sighed again, but after seeing how focused Yuuta was on him, he decided to give it another try. "Takeshi was a very close friend. When we were in high school, we became even closer. Neither of us had ever kissed anyone, and we were both curious about it, so..." Dojima sighed a third time, though his total tally that day was probably higher. "When I went to police academy, though, I met my wife, and that's that," he finished.

"W-What happened to him?" Yuuta asked.

"Huh? He's fine. I never said we weren't friends still. In fact, he even babysat for us when Nanako was younger."

"Really?" Nanako said, totally taken by surprise.

Dojima smiled at her. "Don't you remember him? I suppose he toned up some over time."

Wait... she remembered him now, yeah... yeah, he'd changed a bit from the photo Aunt Seta had shown her, but now that she thought about it, they had the same eyes.

"I've had your first love babysit me," she said, each word dripping with wonder.

Dojima grunted... but didn't deny it.

"Don't you go bothering him the next time he visits," he cautioned, "for 'hot deetz,' or whatever you kids are calling it these days." Nanako snickered, because he sounded a lot like Mr. Morooka when he said that, but he paid her no mind as he continued. "And you," he addressed Yuuta now, "you're too young to think about kissing anyone. That stuff is for high school."

"Okay," said Yuuta, smiling from ear to ear.

"That stuff is for high school, he says," said Takeyoshi-kun's mom all of a sudden, one eyebrow raised. "What did you two do behind the sports building all those times, play cards?"

Now all eyes were on her.

"That was in middle school," she added, somewhat mischievously, though was hard for Nanako to see her as anything but a judgmental mom.

"Don't you start with that," Dojima warned her, "or do you want me to tell your son about your middle school escapades as well? I remember covering for you during cleaning."

"M-Mom?" Takeyoshi-kun asked. In response, his mother merely chuckled.

"Do you two... know each other?" Nanako asked very slowly, not knowing what to think anymore.

Dojima turned to her. "Everyone knows each other in Inaba, honey," he said. "This is a ghost town, after all."

Nanako thought her brains were going to leak out of her ears.

"I should have known you were his daughter," the woman said with a sigh. "Did you know he and his friends were exhibitionists too? The river was never safe when they were around. In fact, our parents, that is, the parents of us girls, forbade us from going there when they knew they were around."

Did they, now? Though wait, exhibitionists _too?_ Nanako buried her face on Souji's shoulder. Of course worldly Takeyoshi-kun was going to tell his mother all about their skinny dipping. Of course.

"I remember seeing you around plenty," Dojima replied soundly, and the woman huffed.

Nanako raised her head to look at her, and then she looked at her dad, then back at her, then at her dad, before finally settling on her.

"Did you have a crush on my dad?!" she blurted out. Aunt Seta did say he was popular with girls... and was in a sports club.

That seemed to be crossing a line, though. Dojima coughed awkwardly, and Takeyoshi-kun's mom assumed an unreadable expression, her lips sealed tight. There was a brief silence, a silence which was then interrupted by Takeyoshi-kun himself.

"Wow," he said.

Nanako could only murmur in agreement.

"B-Big sis, can... can I have the phone back?" Souji asked eventually, bringing Nanako out of her daze; she hadn't even realized she was still holding it. When she handed it over, Souji immediately called for his friends. "Ta-chan, come see this!"

"Me too!" said Yuuta, jumping on the arm of the wheelchair. Nanako idly wondered where his mother was. Did she really let him stay with Kanji like that? Then again, that one time, they'd been doing crochet together long before she arrived. Maybe she was more open minded than Nanako gave her credit for...

While pondering on this, Nanako realized that throughout the entire exchange, Kanji had been quiet. She motioned to him now, and they moved down the hall some, leaving Dojima and Takeyoshi-kun's mom to watch the boys.

"Everything all right?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah, jus'..." Kanji shifted his weight from one foot to the other and swung his head low. "Can't believe Yuuta asked that, but more than that, can't believe your pa answered."

"I'm still kind of reeling."

"Senpai..." Kanji hesitated, shifting his weight once again. "I was tempted to tell 'em all I kissed a boy too."

"You held back?"

"I don't want to air it out like dirty laundry," he said. "It's complicated, you know?"

"I know," she replied, "though there's nothing wrong with wanting to scream it to the world sometimes."

"But your dad," he went on, albeit smiling now. "I mean, just... his generation is always so conservative, but if he was like that when he was younger... it don't make sense."

"Well, appearances can be deceiving," Nanako reminded him. "I know what you mean, though."

"Yeah," he said, then glanced away from her. Nanako sensed one of those awkward silences was coming, so before it could set she hugged him around the waist and said:

"How about we go over there and tell them that you didn't just kiss a boy, you did it tons of times?"

"S-Senpai!" he squeaked, although... Nanako eyed him carefully. Was he considering it? Oh god, he was! "...I'm gonna kiss him a ton more when I get home!"

"Do you think I could get in on that kissing action?" she asked. "I've always wanted to kiss a guy in glasses."

"N-No, Senpai," Kanji said, grinning wide. "He's all mine."

Nanako pretended to look offended, then laughed. Kanji laughed too, but then gave her a sheepish look.

"I-I don't think they need to know that," he said.

"Yuuta might!"

Kanji was quiet for a second. "I see myself in him, sometimes," he admitted.

"He's a good kid. Just like you."

He scratched his head. "'s not what I meant."

"Yeah, I know..." Nanako sighed, though it was more wistful than the sighs Dojima had been giving her all day. "With his dad not around," she continued, "he's going to be looking up to us, even though we're not adults. I think the best you can do is set a good example for him. When he asks you questions, answer them, although you don't have to give him ALL the hot deetz about your boyfriend."

"Just some, huh?" Kanji was smiling again.

"Yeah, and give the rest to me!"

They laughed some more as she went from hugging him to simply leaning against him.

"I was surprised when I saw you two at the summer festival," she said, "young love."

Kanji made a face. "Young love? I ain't that young anymore, Senpai," he said, but didn't seem bothered. "Guess that's what it was though. Our first date... we played the pocky game and shit."

"You also caught him a fish!" she pointed out with a grin.

"Eh... that thing with Yuuta was a fluke," he admitted. "I couldn't catch one twice. Souji came by and got him one though, so it was fine."

"Sou-chan did? Adachi-san did say he was helping some of the other kids... oh man, what did your boyfriend think?"

Nanako was pretty eager for his answer, but he just blushed and turned away. Now she was even more curious!

"How did you meet that guy, anyway?" she asked, because she didn't want him to stop talking about it. "I think you mentioned a bench in Okina, but that might have been the brandy speaking."

Kanji raised his eyebrows. "What, you don't remember?" he asked. "That bet we made... you know... w-when you taught me about stuff."

Nanako blinked. There was a guy on a bench waiting for another guy, and they'd confessed... they were both from her school... "Don't tell me that was the same guy?!"

He nodded.

"Huh. I guess things didn't work out between them?"

"Found him at that same bench few weeks later, looking sadder'n a lost puppy. He had his glasses off because he was rubbing his eyes. I couldn't just walk past him when he was like that, so I sat down there and... we got to talking. He was heartbroken from the breakup. I guess he'd fallen in love with all his heart, but the guy had already moved onto someone else."

"What a dick..."

"Anyway, I showed him a plushie I'd made, you know, to cheer him up, and..."

"The rest is, as they say, history?" she teased, sounding a lot like Naoto.

"You got it, Senpai."

Nanako breathed a sigh of relief. "I was so happy for you," she said as she closed her eyes. "I still am, but... right now, maybe not so much for you specifically, but for something that went right for once. I didn't fuck things up for you somehow."

"I couldn't have done it without you, Senpai," Kanji said, wrapping his arm around her, "and back then, while you was fighting my Shadow, you said you'd help me, you said maybe we could be friends and we'd figure things out together, and... we did."

"Do you know now?" she asked. "Do you know whether you like boys or girls, or both?"

"I do," he said, and though she couldn't see him, Nanako had the feeling he was smiling. "I ain't gonna be kissin' any girls."

Nanako grinned.

"...Hey so, what's that guy's name, anyway?"

"Oh, his name is—"

"Whaaaaa," they heard Yuuta's voice carrying throughout the entire corridor. Nanako and Kanji both turned to the kids. "Your jinbei is pink? No fair, no fair, I want one!"

Nanako glanced at Kanji, and he nodded. No time like the present, right? They skipped back to where the kids were.

"Gimme yours, Souji, c'moooooon..." Yuuta pleaded.

"Mama... had them made for us," Souji said, as close to a "no" as he was going to get.

Turned out they were all looking at the photos still. Kanji bent down to see the phone better.

"Me and Ma made that one together," he mused. "Little guy picked out the pattern himself."

"I did!" Souji beamed.

Nanako wanted to be surprised, but Tatsumi Textiles was the only place in the shopping district that did that sort of thing, and Aunt Seta said the district had everything she needed, so she figured... still, she was tempted to ask which of them made her sexy yukata. Too bad her dad was still there!

"You know, since Kanji-kun made that one for Souji," she said instead, "if you ask nicely, maybe your mom can order one too, Yuu-chan!"

Yuuta's eyes were bright like stars. Nanako almost had to hold him back from running all the way to his mom right then and there.

"The cutie pie twins become jinbei twins?" Kanji teased.

"It's only fitting that Lieutenant Briefs and Major Carnation match!"

They laughed, but Takeyoshi-kun was frowning. "Why not triplets?" he asked.

Oh, so he wanted in on this. "Are you sure?" Nanako asked. "You'd have to take your shirt off to dazzle everyone!"

"As long as you don't let anyone tickle me, Boss," he said with a shy little smile.

"You should add, 'including you,'" Kanji advised.

"I was about to say," Dojima said. "She might find it hard to resist."

"N-No," she said. "I always respect their boundaries!"

"Unless you splash her," Souji contributed, and she shrugged, because it was totally true.

"Where _did_ you buy those speedos?" Takeyoshi-kun's mom asked primly, looking at a picture of them on the beach that Souji had swiped to as soon as the cutie pie twins had been mentioned.

"Junes has everything," Nanako reported. "Though, what color should your cutie pie be, Ta-kun? Souji is purple, and Yuuta is pink."

"My favorite color is chartreuse," he said.

"That could work," she said, giving him a lopsided smile. Of course he'd have his favorite color down to the tone, and with a fancy name to boot.

"'Boss,' huh," Dojima said all of a sudden, shaking his head ruefully. "Ryoko said you work at the daycare? Do you make all the kids call you that?"

"They've been leaning towards 'big sis' lately," she admitted. "I might not be the only big sis in town, but clearly I am the best one."

Dojima chuckled. "I should have known it would turn out like this. When you were a kid, you were always going on about guts."

"You could join a biker gang," Takeyoshi-kun said. "I saw on television that there's one in the shopping district."

"Was one," Nanako corrected. "Kanji-kun chased them away!"

"My ma couldn't sleep," Kanji said with a shrug when they all looked at him.

"I have a gang already," she reported, thumping her chest proudly. "My right hand Lieutenant Briefs, Major Carnation, Colonel Crochet, and," she sized Takeyoshi-kun up, "as soon as he gets his speedos, Admiral Takeout!"

The kids were so happy she had to get them all together for a group hug right then and there, and Kanji too. It was difficult to lean over Souji's wheelchair to include him, but she managed, though it reminded her of how tired she was. She made her dad take a picture with the phone.

Soon afterwards, Aunt Seta arrived with the food. She seemed surprised by the visitors.

"Ah..." she murmured after a moment. "It took some persuasion, but the nurses allowed us to eat in Souji's room. I don't think all of us would fit there." Her tone was apologetic.

"We can come back later," Takeyoshi-kun's mom started, but Dojima cut her off.

"I need a smoke," he said, looking right at her. "Do you still...?"

Surprisingly, the woman nodded, and they headed off.

Nanako didn't even need to suggest leaving the kids behind!

"I should prolly leave too," Kanji said. "Gotta help Ma with the store. Yuuta, wanna come with?"

"C-Can I?" the boy asked, finally getting up from the wheelchair's arm.

"'Course. Your ma left you with me."

"Big sis, um... S-Sou-chan..." the boy stuttered, making Souji smile. "I promise to come back later!"

Nanako ruffled his hair. "Go on Kanji-kun's shoulder!" she urged him, and the boy looked at him with wide eyes. Kanji quickly raised him, and then they heard the shutter sound of a camera. Nanako turned her back in surprise. It had been Souji!

"M-Mama always says... to capture the moment..." he said, lowering the phone. He had a smile so mischievous Nanako wanted to take another photo right then and there.

"I can wheel you there," said Takeyoshi-kun, running behind Souji's wheelchair.

"Ta-chan, you can eat some of mine," Souji whispered, and they both giggled.

"How did they even get in?" Aunt Seta wondered out loud. Nanako snorted, barely containing her laughter.

"My influence, probably," she said, getting an unguarded smile out of her aunt, and to Souji's room they went.

* * *

Nanako buried her head against Souji's bedside and groaned. "I need a bath," she said into his sheets. She also needed a 12 hour nap, but that would also have to wait.

"S-Smelly," Souji said, but there was no malice in it.

She'd just endured a long interview with the police in an empty hospital room. Naoto had texted her about their desire to speak with her, but since she didn't want to leave the hospital, they'd had to come to her. At least her dad had already grilled her, so she'd been somewhat prepared, but man...

In the meantime, Takeyoshi-kun and his mom had left, leaving Nanako alone with Souji and his mom.

"We won't be able to go home easily," Aunt Seta said. "Reporters are swarming outside the house."

"Outside the hospital too," Nanako said, having seen them gathering outside by the tree on the way back from her questioning.

"I suppose it's a good thing, then," her aunt continued, "that it's your birthday, Nanako-chan."

Nanako blinked tiredly at her. It was? God, with everything that happened she'd totally forgotten.

"I had planned a little vacation for us," Aunt Seta went on, "for the weekend. Under the circumstances, I was able to move it up sooner. We can leave as soon as the doctors let us."

"H-Happy birthday, big sis," Souji said, stroking her back. Nnn, that felt nice...

"Not for a few hours yet, dear," her aunt corrected.

"I could use a massage," Nanako murmured, totally ignoring that bit, "are we going to a spa or something?"

"Close," her aunt said, a playful smile on her face.

Dojima walked into the room then.

"I talked with the doctor," he said. "Souji needs to stick around a bit longer so they can analyze his test results, but he should be discharged tonight."

"Discharged," Souji repeated, testing the word. "U-Uncle, what does that mean?"

"It means you can leave the hospital," Dojima answered.

Souji grinned wide.

"Dad," Nanako said, not turning to face him, "did they say anything about... him? I know you asked."

Nanako couldn't see whether her dad was frowning, but he didn't sigh.

"He's still unconscious," he replied. Nanako thought about how often Kanji and Yosuke had dropped him on the way out of the TV World, and decided it made sense.

"Good," was all she said.

The next few hours were mostly uneventful as nurses came and went to check on Souji, and he said goodbye to each one of them and then to the doctor. Nanako forced herself to stay awake for all of this, but closed her eyes as soon as they got in the car. It was her dad's car, which had a familiar smell and a lot of feelings associated with it, so she easily drifted off even as her aunt chatted animatedly about their mysterious destination.

She was asleep for most of the ride, and judging by the weight on her side when she started to become vaguely aware of the real world again, so was Souji. She kept her eyes firmly shut even though she felt the car coming to a stop, but then someone opened the door for her, so, working on automatic, she picked up Souji (who was indeed using her as a pillow) and got out.

"Where's the nearest bed," she said first thing even as the smell of pine trees filled her nostrils.

"If you could follow me," replied a female voice that sounded very familiar.

Nanako blinked, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Before her was a young lady with jet black hair, dressed in a beautiful pink kimono.

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn," said Yukiko with a slight bow of her head.

* * *

Nanako woke up to sun streaming over her face through an open window. It was a warm, pleasant sensation, especially since the summer heat had long passed. She yawned and stretched and accidentally woke up Souji, who she didn't realize until then had been napping alongside her.

"Big sis," he murmured, blinking up at her. "H-Happy birthday..."

His smile was so precious. Nanako couldn't help it, she pulled him to her and rolled off the futon hugging and cuddling him, making the boy giggle helplessly even as her sore body complained. Eventually they hit a wall, and Souji fell on top of her. She brushed away some of his bangs, smiling back at him.

"I love you, Sou-chan," she said, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the emotion.

"I... I love you too, big sis," he replied, and hugged her tight.

They stayed like that for a long time. Nanako was content to simply pat his back all day if that's what he wanted.

But man, she really was sore. She wondered whether Chie ever felt this way, and decided that she did. No matter how fit you were, fighting Shadows all night had to be something humans weren't made for.

Come to think of it, she'd learned something about sore muscles at school. What was it called? Oversaturation? No, that didn't make sense. Pff, well, maybe in the TV World. Overcompensation, that's what it was. Mr. Kondo said you'd get more muscles after getting sore, or something. Maybe she was getting toned without even knowing!

"B-Big sis?"

"Hm? Oh! I'm sorry, Sou-chan," she said, hugging him again. "Did you say something? I'm still waking up and thinking all sorts of dumb stuff."

"N-No, I didn't," he said, though he hugged her back all the same. "You were... smiling."

"I'm just happy, Sou-chan! You know, I always wanted to stay here. The Amagi Inn is supposed to be as famous as the steaks in town, or so Chie would have me believe."

She giggled, and Souji giggled too. Then he wrinkled his nose. "S-Still smelly..." he said.

"I never did get that bath, huh?" She tweaked his tiny nose. "We should get on that. Just have to find out where the baths are."

She gently pushed Souji to his feet and stood up herself, then glanced around the room. It was as traditional Japanese as it could be, with handpainted murals of cherry trees on the walls and a picture of Mt. Fuji hanging next to the window, which lacked glass.

"Or maybe... we can find the hot springs! Come on, Sou-chan, let's go!"

Nanako glanced down the hall outside the room, trying to get her bearings. She had been here before, way back when she'd investigated Yukiko's kidnapping, but she hadn't made it this far inside the building, so she didn't quite know the layout.

But it didn't really matter after all, because they'd barely started exploring when she ran into someone in a yukata, and it wasn't just anyone, it was Naoto!

"It's good to see you up, Nanako-san," he said.

"Bwuh," Nanako said eloquently, because she'd thought he couldn't be more attractive, and just now he'd proved that wrong. The yukata's base was white with a blue bubble pattern. The upper part and the long sleeves were a blue that nicely accentuated Naoto's hair. He was missing his signature cap.

"Big bro!" Souji said. "We want... hot springs."

"Mmm. Is that the first thing that came to mind upon awakening?" Naoto teased.

Nanako and Souji nodded in unison.

"It's hot springs or bust!" Nanako declared.

"Y-Yeah! Hot springs... or bust!" Souji repeated, making Naoto chuckle. Nanako had been hoping for a giggle, but his laugh, too, filled her with joy.

"It's so good to see you!" she said. "I wasn't sure you'd be here, what with, you know, everything."

"I promised to accompany you, remember?" Naoto said, smiling at her.

Souji nodded sagely. "Big bro... is family too."

Naoto walked over to the boy, crouching to get on his level. "I apologize for not coming to see you in the hospital," he said, his smile morphing into a sad frown. Souji hugged him before he could say anything else, and Naoto squeezed him tight. "How are you doing?" the detective whispered without breaking the hug.

"Happy," Souji said, though the sound was muffled because he had his mouth against Naoto's haori. It somehow made the reunion even more adorable.

"The hospital wasn't lonely?" Naoto asked.

"Ta-chan... and Yuu-chan... and Kanji-san, and U-Uncle... and big sis, and Mama!" Souji declared, his enthusiasm growing with every word. "They were all there with me, and now... you're here too, big bro."

"I am," Naoto confirmed, stroking the boy's hair for a long moment. "Do you know what day is today?" he then asked, pulling away to look Souji in the eyes.

"B-Big sis's birthday!" 

"Indeed," Naoto said, turning to face her. "Nanako-san... happy birthday."

"I want a hug too," Nanako said, holding her arms open.

"Maybe after the bath," Naoto teased, and they both laughed.

"Where are these hot springs anyway? I've been trying to swindle Yukiko for an invite all year!" Nanako said in mock outrage. "Unless someone ties me up, I'm sleeping in there."

"Now that sounds like a bad time," Naoto said, shaking his head in amusement. "I've memorized this floor's layout. The hot springs are this way."

Nanako and Souji followed the Detective Prince like two ducklings as he navigated that mess of samey-looking corridors that reminded Nanako of an old MMO she used to play. Nanako couldn't help but stare at him the entire way; he carried himself so well in his yukata, arms crossed beneath the sleeves of the haori like some kind of feudal lord.

"Shirogane-san, you look amazing in traditional clothing!" she said. "I wish you'd had some during the summer festival. My yellow yukata, Sou-chan's pink jinbei, and something blue for you. We'd have rocked the town!"

"I believe this town has been sufficiently rocked by your presence alone, Nanako-san," Naoto said without missing a beat, "but thank you. We may yet have an opportunity to match, but it is months away still."

"New Year's," Nanako murmured. "I can't wait, but at the same time, I don't want it to come! The here and now is where it's at."

"I feel you, as they say. I want the case to be closed, but there are many more memories to be made in the months to come. We should savor every moment."

"You got it, Shirogane-san!" Nanako beamed. "By the way, your hair..."

Without his signature cap, the Detective Prince's messy hair flowed free... and much longer than it was when she'd first met him.

"Ah, yes," Naoto said. "I have been neglecting to cut it. How does it look?"

"Very nice, actually!" Nanako said, and Souji nodded in agreement. "You just need a comb now."

"My caretaker used to say the same thing," Naoto said, but then shook his head. "Hard-boiled detectives hardly have the time to be playing with their hair, don't you think?"

"Maybe you can be soft-boiled, instead," Nanako suggested.

"Just like... Adachi-san," piped up Souji. Ah, so he'd been paying attention that time as well!

"Hmm. It is something to consider," he said. "I rather like how it feels in the breeze."

"I bet it feels even better from the scooter!"

Nanako skipped a few steps forward, and saw that the detective was smiling.

Finally they reached the changing room. The sign outside said the hot springs were reserved for women at the moment. Nanako entered through the sliding door with Souji without a second thought, but once they were inside, the attendant on duty halted Naoto.

"Excuse me," the attendant said. "I'm very sorry, but you can't go into the hot springs right now. It will be open to men at the top of the hour."

Naoto went very stiff.

"We are going in as a family," Nanako said. "Souji is with us!"

"Children under a certain age are an exception," the attendant admitted, "but the rules are clear."

Naoto closed his fist tightly, ready to argue and perhaps reveal things he didn't want to, but before he could say anything the sliding door was thrown open by none other than Yukiko.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud," she said, giving the attendant a hard look, and then turning to Naoto with an apologetic expression. "Please, go right ahead."

In the corridor leading to the washing stations, they could still hear the argument.

"The rules say..." the attendant began, but a sharp intake of breath interrupted her.

"There aren't even any other guests using the springs right now," Yukiko said, sounding exasperated. "There rarely are, so early in the afternoon. I know we've allowed teenagers to enter with their parents under these conditions in the past, so what makes this any different?"

The attendant didn't respond. Nanako decided they should go ahead, but not before she checked whether Naoto was doing okay.

"I suppose there are consequences to passing as a man..." the detective murmured.

"There are," Nanako said, gently putting a hand on his shoulder, "the same way there are consequences to being a woman."

Naoto put his hand over hers and murmured something that sounded vaguely affirmative. Nanako could feel now that he was shaking, so she gave his hand a squeeze.

"Big bro..." said Souji, hugging his legs.

"Do you still want to do this?" Nanako asked.

"Yes," Naoto answered, although his voice broke, betraying his emotions. Nanako pulled both him and Souji into a hug before heading in.

Nanako stripped off her clothes and threw them in a basket before helping Souji take off his own. After that it was Naoto's turn. Though he'd easily shed his yukata, his binder took a bit more effort. It turned out he didn't need any help; he'd long since found the best way for him to remove it, and soon it was in a basket of its own.

At the washing station, Nanako spent extra time making sure she was completely clean. She couldn't have Souji calling her smelly again, after all. in fact, no one should be able to call Souji smelly either, so it was with great relish she made sure he was clean too. Behind his ears, between his toes, and even inside his belly button!

"T-Tickles!" he protested as the water splashed his belly.

"I can't tickle Ta-chan, so I have to tickle you instead!" Nanako laughed, and so did Souji.

And then they were all done! Nanako headed to the edge of the hot springs and tested the water with a toe before finally—finally—sinking herself into its heavenly depths.

The water was amazing. Nanako gasped despite herself as the warmth poured over her body like nectar; she could feel her muscles relaxing already. She closed her eyes for several seconds, taking in the sensation, and it was hard to open them again, even when she realized it was Souji's first time to the hot springs and she shouldn't miss it.

When she did open her eyes, Nanako saw that Souji was standing a bit away from the water, but it wasn't out of fear; he was mesmerized by the vapor, his eyes following the puffs from the water until they disappeared into the sky. Eventually he approached the water and dipped a toe in, just like Nanako had done.

"It's hotter than the tub," he observed.

"Only fifteen minutes, Sou-chan," Nanako said. "We won't boil for that long."

"But... you're sleeping here..." he said with a cute little frown.

"That's true," Nanako conceded, "but don't worry, if it gets too hot, I'll save you just like we saved Foxie at the beach!"

Souji nodded, apparently satisfied, and with a determined expression slowly got into the water. Yuuta would have jumped right in, which could have been amusing to see, but it was adorable how he gasped and moaned when the hot water touched a new part of his body, and Nanako wouldn't trade that for anything.

"Careful not to get your head wet," she reminded him, but he wasn't listening. He'd gotten his belly in and had his eyes closed, savoring the moment. Nanako knew he wouldn't forget anyway, since he had promised one of the nurses to be careful. She remembered because it seemed to touch the woman, who up until that point had been fairly curt in her treatment of him.

"It feels... good..." Souji said.

Souji was fully inside now. The water went up to his mouth, and he had to raise his head a little so he wouldn't swallow it. "B-Big sis..." he called after a while.

"You can just swim, Sou-chan," she said casually, resisting the urge to pick him up. That was his first time, and she didn't want to make him afraid of this and that by coddling him. There would be plenty of time for that later!

Souji nodded, anyway, and dog paddled his way to her, straight into a big hug. Success!

Now it was Naoto's turn. They both turned to him expectantly.

Naoto didn't test the water, he just went right in. By the look on his face, the hot water was just as heavenly for him as it had been for her.

Nanako aimed Souji towards him and gently pushed him in that direction. Souji floated like a boat, or more like a bath toy by the way he bobbed up and down to stay afloat. Naoto caught him easily and settled him on his lap.

"N-No tickling!" Souji said, wriggling on the spot.

"Ah, I wasn't trying to tickle you," Naoto said, moving his hands... elsewhere, Nanako couldn't really see where with the water, but Souji seemed appeased.

"That can be arranged, you know," Nanako said, grinning, and they both laughed. "Sou-chan, it probably tickled because your skin is sensitive. This water is supposed to have all sorts of minerals that open your pores and stuff."

Souji thought about that for a few seconds. "Big sis, what are p-pores?" he asked.

"I... actually have no idea," she admitted with a shrug.

"Pores are the openings of hair follicles on the surface of your skin," Naoto explained, but that only served to confuse Souji further, so he added, "the tiny dots you see on your arms."

"As academic as ever," Nanako said, chuckling to herself.

For several minutes they just enjoyed the water and the silence. Every once in a while they would hear the sound of bamboo tapping rock somewhere, and then nothing else. Things seemed so distant. Souji had been in the hospital just yesterday, but from the comfort of the hot springs that seemed to have happened in another lifetime.

Naoto briefly broke the silence to ask Souji if he was having fun, and in response he nodded vigorously and then grinned, showing off his cute little teeth. Everything was right in the world.

Some time later they heard the sliding door to the washing stations open. Naoto was so relaxed that he didn't even worry who it could be. Nanako figured his towel was close by anyway, and with Souji on his lap, his secret wouldn't be immediately exposed, so she closed her eyes, allowing herself to drift off.

* * *

"I must admit that when she said she was sleeping here, I thought nothing of it," she vaguely heard Naoto say as she regained consciousness.

"Big sis... doesn't joke..." Souji contributed, sounding quite sleepy himself. Nanako smiled, happy to hear him say it.

"Evidently so," Naoto said, probably shaking his head wryly.

"I can hear you, you know," Nanako said, though she was not ready to open her eyes quite yet.

"I know. Your breathing rate changed a moment ago."

"Did she wake up?" she heard a more distant female voice ask. "Our time is up."

"That would be your aunt," Naoto clarified before she could ask. "I know you wouldn't mind staying here with the male guests, but we really must leave, Nanako-san."

"I have some decency," Nanako protested, opening her eyes. Souji was already outside and completely dry, but still naked. Nanako looked at the Detective Prince askance.

"I would never deprive you of the opportunity of dressing him in yukata," he replied, smiling at her.

Naoto helped her out of the water, and to the changing room they went. The attendant from earlier was nowhere to be seen, but Aunt Seta was there, looking very regal in her yukata. The haori was a brighter blue than Naoto's, which made Nanako wonder whether there were different models to choose from, though maybe that was just the female version.

"Did you take a bath with us, Auntie?" Nanako asked.

"Yes, though sadly you weren't around to enjoy it," her aunt teased. "Do get dressed, please, before your father barges in here and you both see more than you would like."

"I haven't taken a bath with him in years," she confirmed, "but honestly, he's family, so I wouldn't mind. I still remember what he looked like nude, anyway."

"I would rather have him in my memories as the teenager who didn't get around to putting on his briefs, at the most," Aunt Seta said, shaking her head.

Nanako smiled. "I remember that conversation," she mused. Maybe her aunt knew how developed that Takeshi guy was, she should ask.

"B-Big sis, look," Souji said, interrupting that particular train of thought, "my hands...!"

They were all wrinkly from staying in the water for so long. Nanako raised hers for him to see. "Mine too!" she said, and his grin grew even larger.

Soon they were all dried and dressed, except for Souji, who patiently waited for her to help him with his yukata. Nanako didn't bring him any briefs, so he would have to wear it nude, not that she'd brought anything for herself either. She had always heard her more perverted classmates saying girls didn't wear any underwear under yukata anyway, so hey, time to realize some random high schooler's wet dream.

When they walked out of the changing room, Souji looked like a lordling, riding on Nanako's left shoulder in his tiny haori and carrying a pink fan that she suspected had been brought to the changing room by Yukiko herself. Naoto and Aunt Seta, in turn, looked like a pair of paparazzi, taking pictures from every angle. Nanako noticed her aunt had the good camera, and hoped her passion had reignited some.

Dojima was waiting for them in the corridor.

"You still look terrible," he said. 

Nanako gasped in outrage. "Souji-dono, are you really gonna let him get away with insulting your noble servant like this?" she asked. In response, Souji swatted her dad with the fan like she'd taught him a moment ago.

"I-Insolence..." he said with an exaggerated pout.

"Ow," Dojima said, but he was laughing. He then said, "Happy birthday, honey," and hugged her, though it was a little bit difficult with Souji still on her shoulder.

"Oof," she said, a few seconds into the hug, "you need a bath too, Dad."

"Not right now," he replied lightly. "The hot springs are open to men now, but it would just be me in there. I wanted to take a bath with your cousin and get to know him better, but you whisked him away."

There was a polite cough from behind him.

"I was hoping," said a female voice, "to do the same."

Dojima stepped out of the way so that Yukiko could pass, but she turned to him before doing so.

"There was no time for introductions yesterday," she said. "My name is Yukiko Amagi. I am your daughter's confidant."

Souji made a face. "Compatriot..." he murmured, but only Nanako heard him, and she had to bite back a chuckle. Dojima then offered Yukiko his hand without saying a word, which was even funnier, and she took it without delay. They shook firmly and, the interaction apparently finished, she turned to Aunt Seta.

"Seta-san," she said with a curtsy. Aunt Seta nodded, possibly not knowing how to address the girl, and finally Yukiko turned to Nanako and Souji.

Nanako was expecting another curtsy, but Yukiko closed the distance between them with surprising speed, straight into a hug.

"I'm so glad you two are doing okay," she murmured.

"Only thanks to you and the others," Nanako said, hugging her back. Souji patted her on the head, his annoyance with her apparently forgotten.

They were about to break the hug when Yukiko flinched.

"N-Naoto-kun," she stuttered, "I didn't see you there."

Naoto had been standing behind them, and he was short, so...

"Amagi-san," he said, moving to tip his cap only to realize it wasn't there. His blush afterwards was magnificent.

Yukiko's whole body began to shake, nearly unbalancing Souji. Oh no, here it comes, Nanako thought, moving away just a bit, though she kept holding Yukiko's hand. To her surprise, however, the girl managed to stay in control and ended her spasms by clearing her throat.

"Nice to see you," she said, pretending none of that had happened. Nanako decided she should get the conversation going again before she was the one shaking with laughter.

"Pray tell, what business do you have with my liege, lord of the land, the noble tiger Souji Seta?" she asked, and Souji fanned himself, pretending to look disinterested.

"Oh, please forgive me, my lord," Yukiko said, getting on her knees and bowing her head all the way to the ground. "I am but a lowly courtesan, and have come to escort you to a secret location for an important mission."

"Souji-dono, she could be a spy!" Nanako said in a conspiratorial tone.

Souji put the fan to his chin before answering, "I trust her."

Nanako put him down and, since she couldn't carry him in a kimono, he and Yukiko went down the corridor hand in hand. It was hard for Nanako to watch him go. Souji waved at her before turning a corner, though, which made her feel a little better.

Aunt Seta fidgeted next to her.

"I'd better go with them," she said, doing so before anyone could even react.

Nanako watched the now empty corridor in quiet wonder, and then her eyes trailed to Dojima, who she realized was giving her a hard look. Ugh, he'd probably recognized Yukiko's name from the text message yesterday... but as she thought that, she noticed that Naoto was in his sights too. Possibly he didn't notice the detective was there until Yukiko did.

"What's up?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as casually as she could.

"Did this boy go into the hot springs with you?" he asked in turn.

"Of course," Nanako replied, "since we went in as a family."

Dojima was breathing hard now. Nanako had no idea what his problem was... he'd met Naoto back when she went missing, right? Aunt Seta had surely informed him that he was living with them. Maybe he was still worried about them eloping? No, that couldn't be, they'd been living together for months now, and he knew she had a girlfriend.

Nanako continued to answer his glare with a nonplussed expression until she finally noticed the words he'd used: this boy. Aunt Seta hadn't told him? Despite her playful tone back when she revealed that she knew, maybe she'd since realized things weren't that simple, which was a good thing, but... crap, how was she even going to handle this?

The worry must have shown on her face, because Dojima's expression softened.

"I know your aunt was in there with you," he began, but then his face screwed up in thought. "Did you hide him from her or something? I know you like testing the limits of what's proper," he said, his tone somewhere between reproachful and incredulous. "Ryoko is not like your mother, she wouldn't just let this happen."

"Shirogane-san is family," Nanako said firmly, surprising even herself with her conviction. "Dad, you saw us coming out of the changing room together."

Dojima didn't seem convinced, so she added that he could ask Souji, who wouldn't lie to him.

"No," he said. "I know you're not lying. But... you're hiding something."

Nanako growled. Dojima didn't have the right to know, it was none of his goddamn business, but before she could say so, Naoto silently placed a hand on her shoulder. Nanako took a deep breath. "Drop it, Dad," she said instead.

"Fine," he replied, hesitating only for a moment.

That was that.

* * *

Souji came back from his secret mission covered in mud, prompting Dojima to invite him for a bath. Nanako thought he might refuse, but after fidgeting for a bit, he said yes with a shy little smile. Nanako herself was still a bit red from her nap in the hot springs, so she couldn't follow them in even though she really wanted to. The entire exchange was so quick that she didn't have the opportunity to ask him where that mud was even from. Maybe he'd helped the groundskeeper with his pine trees? What was so secret about that, anyway? Everyone was taking Souji away from her, and she was starting to get upset. Nanako wanted nothing more than to spend the entire day with him, but she couldn't deny him interaction with others, especially since, as his own Shadow had said, she was going to leave him one day.

Those thoughts ended up putting her in a melancholic mood, so she split from Aunt Seta and Naoto to brood in the reception room, where the television that started that whole mess was. There weren't any attendants around, not even a cashier or something for guests that wanted to leave. Nanako could jump into the television right now and no one would be the wiser. No wonder there had been no leads on Mayumi Yamano... no one to see her there, nor to respond to her desperate pleas for help. Nanako thought about asking Yukiko to beef up the security around that television, but their exit was there now, on the other side.

"Why did this have to happen?" she murmured to herself, hugging her legs. Damn it, she wasn't supposed to feel sad on her birthday.

She didn't even notice Dojima entering the room until he called her name. "Dad?" she asked, straightening herself on the cushion.

"Thought you were sleeping with your eyes open," he joked, but she just nodded.

Dojima was carrying a sleeping Souji in his arms, which was an adorable visual that needed to be captured, except Aunt Seta had the good camera with her, so she had to make do with her cracked phone, which her dad was quick to notice.

"Please don't," she said before he could even open his mouth.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he said, setting Souji on her lap, which did make her smile a little bit.

"Yes, you were," she replied, and because he'd put the boy on his side, she could see the gauze on his head clearly. Hmm, it was getting yellow, she didn't know what from, maybe pus... she was going to have to change it soon, anyway.

"Ryoko took pictures too, you know," he said, trying to lighten the mood, "but she ran out of film."

"Mmm," she vocalized, idly stroking Souji's hair. "This one time, he fell asleep on Adachi-san's lap, but you're more manly than he is, so the visual wasn't as cute."

"Adachi?" he said, scratching his stubble. "The last time we talked, you mentioned something about him and your aunt. I didn't know he did babysitting."

Without another word, she navigated her phone to the picture she'd taken that day. Dojima leaned over with a curious expression.

"Nice tie," he said, and she murmured in agreement.

Where was that guy, anyway? Nanako hadn't seen him around at all... He hadn't been present during her questioning at the hospital, nor did he come to visit. Naoto hadn't mentioned anything either.

"Nanako," her dad said, or maybe sighed, as he sat down in the cushion next to hers, "what happened to you?"

 _Not this again,_ she thought, but it must have read on her face because he shook his head.

"I don't mean the case," he said. "Nanako, you haven't even been here a year, and yet there's so much different about you. Those lines under your eyes... have you been getting enough sleep? I know you had a long rest last night, but I thought that was because of whatever happened to your cousin. How come you still look like you haven't slept in weeks?"

"Dad," she said, but what did she even want to say?

"Your smile isn't as bright as I remember. Even when you're with him," he added, nodding down at Souji.

 _Sometimes I only feel like myself around my little cousin,_ she'd once told Izaya. So much for that.

"But worst of all," he went on, "you can barely meet my eyes."

Nanako stiffened, and for a moment she tried to prove him wrong, to raise her head high and stare him down like she'd done when he saw that picture on her phone, but... she kept watching some arbitrary point on the ground, instead.

"The way your teacher's death affected you should've clued me in," Dojima said, raising a hand to put on her shoulder but withdrawing at the last second. "There was just so much going on back home. I should have found a way to stay at least another day."

"Dad," she said, suddenly remembering something, "why... why didn't you take me home with you, back then?"

In lieu of answering, he glanced away, confirming one of her own fears.

"Are things that bad in Tokyo?" she whispered.

Dojima sighed tiredly.

"Yeah. I won't tell you how bad, though," he added before she could ask, "and you have to promise me not to look it up. Is that alright?"

Nanako couldn't do anything but nod.

"I thought you would've known with the internet," he mused, "but I suppose you haven't been using it that much, or your friends back home wouldn't be on my case so hard."

"Phony weekly emails..." she murmured.

"Chisato told me about your friends here in Inaba," he said, "and I can't deny that Konishi in particular left an impression on me that I won't soon forget." There was a pause as they both smiled, though probably for different reasons. "They care a lot about you, you know. _They're_ the reason I didn't haul your ass home after that."

"But why?" she pressed. "Dad, you were only here for two days, was that... was that really enough?"

"The day you went missing," Dojima said, "your friends just kept popping up. The school didn't know anything, but then that boy who was wearing your bra in the picture told me you might have been kidnapped, and I guess one of your daycare kids is neighbors with you because his mother came by to say he'd seen you in the shopping district."

Nanako raised her head in surprise. One of her kids?

"I went to look for you there, and that delinquent boy who visited the hospital yesterday said he'd help me and started shouting your name without even waiting for me. I like him," he added, "he's got honest eyes."

Dojima worked his jaw for a moment before continuing.

"Other people helped out too, you know, some girl walking her dog, a bunch of kids who were playing at the shrine, an Aiya delivery girl, two boys in their school jerseys... but the search went on for hours and we couldn't find you. I almost gave up."

He shook his head at the memory before continuing: 

"Konishi came by in the morning, to ask what was going on. I guess she was working the day before and didn't find out until she got home? Shirogane and Amagi came too. I felt helpless... like they were all coming to pay their respects on a funeral."

Dojima sighed again. Nanako opened her mouth to apologize for the trouble she'd caused, but then she remembered her conversation with Aunt Seta about that exact subject. No, she decided, and leaned against him instead.

"I know you, Nanako," he said after a moment, "you always do things on a whim, without thinking, so even though you love a lot of people here, and they love you back, you'd have run away to Tokyo without a second thought. I thought about your little cousin and how you were helping him, about your girlfriend and how she defended you when she thought I was gonna do something, about those kids who helped me look for you, and decided you'd regret it."

"Do you?" she asked suddenly.

Dojima furrowed his brow and shook his head in confusion.

"Do you regret not inviting me back?" she clarified.

"Do you think I can have regrets?" he countered, looking down at Souji. "From what I gather, you changed this kid almost as much as you've changed yourself. I wouldn't take that away from him. He's already lost so much."

"He's finding it again," Nanako said. "But I'm worried about the end of the year. When I go back home."

"I'm sure your friends will make sure he's well taken care of."

"Yeah," Nanako said, unconvincingly, because of what Souji's Shadow had said about it. "But also... I've changed, and Mom will have to meet the new me too. There are things I'm keeping from you, and the same is true for her too. I'm sure she knows, but I never... I never did this before. I never felt like I had to."

"She might not like it, but she'll accept it, just like I have."

Slowly, Nanako said, "I might not have changed for the better."

Dojima didn't answer, and Nanako didn't see his expression, because Souji stirred in her lap.

"Big sis..." he said groggily.

"Mm. Did our little Momotaro wake up from his peach?" she teased, poking him on the nose, but he didn't react, still half asleep. "Did the bath tire you out, honey?"

Souji nodded and then cuddled up against her, apparently intent on sleeping some more.

"Maybe you weren't ready to handle my dad just yet," she said, lightly stroking his brow.

"Uncle is scary," he conceded, "but Mama is scarier."

Nanako chuckled and gave him a big kiss on the forehead. Right then, she heard the camera shutter sound from her phone and raised her head. Dojima had picked it up.

...He was smiling.

* * *

Nanako dozed for a bit against her dad's shoulder. When she woke up next, Souji was lying across her lap, his feet still resting on her dad's thigh so that her dad couldn't really get up. Souji was both wide awake and totally content in this position, though the way Dojima kept nibbling his lower lip, Nanako could tell he needed a smoke break. She gently shifted the boy more fully onto her own lap so that he could go. 

He didn't though, because Aunt Seta arrived with not only the good camera, but Yukiko, Naoto, and Kanji too. As the only one not in a yukata, he looked distinctly out of place.

"Kanji?" Nanako asked. "What are you doing here?"

Kanji's look was quizzical. "You kiddin' me? Wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Miss what—" she started. "Oh no. You aren't."

"Happy birthday, Nanako-san," Naoto said. "We should wait for the others to arrive before opening the gifts."

Gifts too? Sure enough, Kanji was carrying a paper package by the white rope tied around it. It looked large enough to hold a cake, but the way he was carrying it, that probably wasn't what it contained. 

"You didn't... you didn't have to do anything like this," Nanako protested. "R-Really!"

"Big sis," Souji said, tilting his head back to look up at her, "you missed my birthday, and you were all sad... s-so..."

"I'm sure that won't happen next year," Aunt Seta said. 

"You got that right," Nanako agreed.

Aunt Seta took a seat next to Dojima on the couch, and then Souji was crawling over Dojima to sit with her. Nanako smiled after him, a little wistfully. There'd be plenty of time to cuddle him later, she knew. At least he was still in the same room. He asked about the camera his mom was holding, and everyone listened in while she answered in her mom voice. 

"Whatever happened to the phone I gave you?" Aunt Seta asked. "It should be filled with more pictures than Nanako-chan's."

"I don't believe that old phone could carry quite that many pictures," Naoto quipped. There was some laughter and Aunt Seta admitted that it probably had a tiny memory card.

"I don't know," Souji said. "W-Where..."

"I recall seeing it last at home," Naoto said. "Please don't worry about it."

"'Home,' huh?" Dojima rumbled. He was sizing Naoto up again. Nanako nudged him with her elbow, and his expression relaxed.

Someone's phone began to ring. Everyone looked around for the source. Yukiko was reaching into her kimono's sash. "S-Sorry," she said, "I thought I'd had it on silent. Please excuse me."

Nanako was smiling to herself as Yukiko left the room. That ringtone had sounded almost as rocking as Eye of the Tiger. It could only be Chie. Still, Nanako hadn't pegged Yukiko as the custom ringtone type. Even now she was full of surprises.

Nanako noticed Aunt Seta's purse on the table. Not a moment later she grabbed it, prompting her aunt to raise an eyebrow at the intrusion of her privacy, but all she wanted were the extra bandages she knew were stored in the side pocket. Aunt Seta had received them from the nurse at the hospital. 

After retrieving them, Nanako began to fuss over Souji, who was still in his mom's lap. "Hold still, honey," she said. "We need to change your bandage."

Aunt Seta steadied Souji in her lap while she changed the dressings on his head wound. It wasn't bleeding, but there was some discharge.

"That means it's healing," Naoto said. "You'll be fine."

"Big bro," Souji began. 

Hearing that, Nanako immediately glanced at her dad. His eyes widened just a smidgen, and she definitely saw him mouth something about family to himself.

"The nurse said... can't t-touch it..." Souji finished saying.

"And you're doing a good job, Sou-chan!" Nanako told him. "If it itches too much, let us know, okay?"

With that done, Nanako was planning to sink right back into her seat, but someone was coming down the hallway into the room. It wasn't Yukiko but Saki and, of all people, Yosuke. 

Before Nanako could really think about it, though, Saki had swept her into an embrace and was kissing her passionately. Nanako kissed her back with the same zeal, but she did worry about Yosuke, remembering his old crush on her girlfriend. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she saw him rolling his eyes at the sight of them kissing. He was fine with being the third wheel.

When the kiss was through, Nanako sat down and pulled Saki into her lap. Then there was a little gasp. She'd been standing in the way, but now Souji saw that Yosuke was there. His mouth was wide open in surprise. "P-P-P-Pink?" he squeaked.

"Huh?" Yosuke said. "Oh. Right, haha." He touched the pink streak in his hair. "You like it, little guy?"

"Partner," Souji corrected with a little pout.

"You like it, partner?" Yosuke repeated without missing a beat.

Souji grinned up at him. Watching his face, Nanako could see the exact moment the next idea came to him. His eyes just lit up, and then he was crawling out of his mom's lap and running right up to Yosuke.

And then he tugged Yosuke's pants down.

Yosuke yelped in surprise, dropping the folder he'd been carrying so that he could try and pull his pants back up. 'Try' being the operative word; Souji was holding onto them with all the force of a determined 6-year-old.

"W-Why is he...!?" Yosuke's face was a magnificent shade of scarlet. "C-Come on, partner, let go!"

Souji gasped in delight as he won the tug of war. "T-T-Tiger! Big sis, look, look!"

"Oh my god," Nanako said. She began to giggle up a storm. Yosuke had chosen an unfortunate day to wear his tiger-striped boxer-briefs.

Yosuke tried another tug and ended up falling flat on his ass. Souji, also now giggling, fell with him.

"Whyyyyy," Yosuke wailed. He let go of his pants to cover his eyes, as if he could hide from everyone watching him.

"It's okay, Y-Yosuke," Nanako gasped between giggles. "I've—snrrrrk—seen it before."

"You're gonna say that right in front of your dad?!" 

Nanako glanced at Dojima, who looked like he was struggling to contain his own laughter. Aunt Seta next to him wore a similar expression. Nanako looked back at Yosuke and shrugged.

"You can... roar," Souji told Yosuke. "Or... meow."

Yosuke stared at Souji for a moment before scooting backwards away from him on the floor so that he could pull his pants back up. Too far up, Nanako noted, because there was now quite a bit of ankle visible. 

"Oh!" Souji said. He turned towards Nanako. "Big sis, do you have... umm... a b-bra?"

"Sorry, honey," Nanako said. "I'm not wearing one."

"Why would he ask that!" Yosuke sounded almost hysterical. "Is this my punishment for not seeing you in the hospital or something?"

"Yosuke," Nanako said, "do you remember the Queen's Game?"

Yosuke stopped feeling sorry for himself to glance at the two adults in the room before answering a careful, "Yes?"

"I showed Sou-chan that picture I took of you with the bra on your head. I think he feels left out since he wasn't there. He probably wants to make you part of his underwear team. You can be Rear Admiral Tiger Stripes."

"That... doesn't make this any better, Nanako."

"By the way, Sou-chan," Nanako said, "you aren't wearing any briefs, either."

"I'm not?" Souji blinked and then opened his yukata to check. He pouted at the results.

"I'm... very sorry that he did that," Aunt Seta finally managed to say. "I'm sure you didn't want all that on display. 

"Well, I mean..." Yosuke looked at Souji, who was now fussing with the hem of his haori. "I guess... if he can do that, then... he's okay." Yosuke managed a smile and then reached forward and patted Souji's head. The boy smiled impishly up at him.

"Souji?" Aunt Seta said. "In the future, please ask before pulling your friend's pants down."

Nanako felt her dad giving her a significant look, but suddenly the ceiling seemed so very interesting.

"Y-Yes, Mama..."

"I think your butt ranks a six out of ten," Saki added.

"Senpai!" Yosuke complained, but he was smiling.

Souji crawled over towards him. "Partner?" 

"Uh, yeah?" Yosuke asked, obviously unsure of how to deal with a sudden lapful of 6-year-old.

"I want tiger undies too..."

Yosuke grimaced. "I have A LOT of them," he said, staring off into the distance. He shook his head to clear it. "Too bad they aren't your size. Besides, a pattern like that probably isn't made in your size."

"Junes does sell garish speedos in his size," Nanako pointed out, "so..."

"I can resize 'em for him," Kanji said. "Wouldn't be too hard. Maybe I can even show him how."

"You do that," Saki said, "and Sou-chan will become the talented tailor tiger."

"All he'll need is a tail," Yosuke said. "What am I saying? You can make that too."

Souji leaned back into Yosuke's chest with a big grin, happy to be the center of attention. 

They continued to make tiger-based jokes and comments until, fittingly enough, Chie arrived. Yukiko followed shortly after, walking slower due to the kimono.

"Sorry I'm late!" Chie said. "My dog made a mess at home, so I had to clean it up."

"No problem," Nanako said. "I mean, this wasn't really planned or anything, was it?"

"Not really, but I'm the last one here, so. Uh." 

Chie paused awkwardly there because she noticed Dojima was in the room. Since they hadn't met before, and Nanako took a moment to introduce them.

"W-Whoa, your dad, really?"

"You don't need to be so surprised," Dojima said.

"I mean I didn't just spawn out of Brahma's belly button," Nanako said. "I have parents too."

"N-No," Chie said, "it's just, he looks like a policeman, so I thought he might be the one assigned to watch over you, but then I thought: if that's true, then he shouldn't be wearing a yukata!"

"I'm undercover," Dojima said.

"He might as well be," Nanako said, "because he's always on duty."

Dojima gave her a halfway offended look, but then he laughed.

"We've actually already met," he then said. "You and your dog helped me look for Nanako back then. Remember?"

Before Chie could answer, Kanji suddenly loomed closer, grabbing everyone's attention. "Now that everyone's here," he said, "you can open your gifts." He held the package he carried in front of Nanako. It twisted a little on its strings.

Nanako didn't immediately take it from him, feeling the need to protest again. "You guys didn't have to get me anything. I mean... I kinda forgot my birthday was even coming up, and now it's here and..."

"Shut up and take your gifts," Kanji said with false gruffness. He pushed the package right in front of her face.

"You heard the man," Yosuke said. Nanako had the feeling that he had a smug look on his face right now. She couldn't see it though, not with this thing in her way!

"Whose gift is this?" she asked.

"Mine," Kanji said. He pushed it even further into her face. It smacked her right on the nose.

After shaking her head Nanako took it from him. She opened the package to find a beautiful jacket in two tones of pink. Nanako took it from the bag and held it up for everyone to see. It was leather! The good stuff, too, she could tell just from touching it. She didn't need to ask to know Kanji had made it himself. He'd once said he could work with leather, after all. But man, a jacket? That must have been a lot more work than the wallet he gave Yosuke way back. Nanako discarded her haori, then turned her back to her friends and took off the upper half of her yukata as well so she could try it on. They'd all seen it, right? Though her dad obviously disagreed, heh heh. Nanako ignored him.

The jacket really was beautiful. Light pink at the top, then darker towards the bottom, not gradually but in stripes, two or three large ones in total. The cuffs... and the elastic waistband too, as well as the collar and lapels, they were an even darker pink, almost purple. Oooh, and the insides were so warm! She recognized the material almost immediately: velvet. How could she not, when she visited the damn room so often? Nanako walked over to the big TV to see her reflection, and very much liked what she saw. She was going to wear that jacket every day if she could get away with it.

She turned to Kanji, almost at a loss for words. "Thank you," she mouthed, and in response he gave her a satisfied grin.

"Wow, Kanji," Chie said, voicing Nanako's own thoughts. "No one's going to be able to top that gift. So, uh, who's next?"

"You're not volunteering?" Yosuke teased. 

Chie was about to retort but Yukiko stepped forward. "Unfortunately, I have some business to attend to for the inn. I'll give you my gift and then go on, if that's all right."

She handed Nanako a thick book. Nanako traced the embossed lettering of the title. It was an anthology of philosophical treatises. Opening it to the first page, she found that it was a first print. Her throat was drying up. She glanced up at Yukiko to find her wearing a fond but sad smile. Nanako nodded to her, and she nodded back, leaving the room without another word.

"I guess mine can go next," Chie said after she was gone. 

It was an envelope. There was a gift card to the music store in Okina City inside. "4000 yen, nice!" 

"What?" said Yosuke. "That's twice what she gave me. No fair, Chie!"

"That's because Nanako's twice the man you are," Chie said. "Anyway, since you're talking, I think it's your turn."

"For what it's worth," Yosuke said with a dramatic sigh. "It's lucky the pages didn't all fall out when I dropped it earlier. It's that folder there. I'm a little burdened here, can someone get it?"

Naoto retrieved the folder and handed it to Nanako. It was a cheap plastic folder, probably sold at Junes. There weren't even any elastic bands to keep it from opening. She flipped it open to find... sheet music, for a song she didn't know. There wasn't a name at the top, nor any credited artists. Nanako scanned the sheet but couldn't identify the tune, though it looked overly simple. 

"What is this?" she asked, not taking her eyes from the sheet.

Yosuke tried to answer, but she shushed him as she'd started humming the notes to try and get a sense of the genre, only to stop halfway through and click her tongue in annoyance because there were clearly some notes missing.

"I only just started composing!" Yosuke retorted, sounding hurt.

Nanako frowned. "What, you made this?"

"I did," he said sheepishly. "I thought we could play together. For the kids, since we didn't get to that one time. I thought maybe we could have our own song."

"I see... but wait, what do you mean we could play together? This doesn't even have enough notes for me."

Yosuke scratched his head in embarrassment. "I haven't finished my part yet," he admitted. "Didn't have the time."

Nanako gave the sheet a once more with newfound appreciation. Yosuke composed this himself, she thought. For a beginner it wasn't that bad, not when she knew there was a big chunk missing.

"Me and the piano, you and your guitar," she murmured. "Maybe something for Ayane too, we could invite her... yeah... yeah, this could totally work!"

Nanako grinned at Souji still in his partner's lap. "Did you hear that, Sou-chan? Rear Admiral has his own theme song!" she said.

"That... That's not it at all!" Yosuke protested, shaking his head, but he couldn't hide his smile.

"Sheesh," Chie said. "I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one who got you a lame gift."

"Money isn't lame!" Nanako defended. "Besides, I love music. I haven't had the time to listen to anything since I got here, but Dad's my witness, there was never a moment of silence back in Tokyo."

"As soon as she got home she'd start listening to vulgar foreign songs at full blast," Dojima grumbled, "and when Chisato arrived they'd both practice on the piano. Our neighbors actually sent me a cake to thank me for the silence last month."

"What kind of house did you live in, Nanako?" Chie asked. "I'm kinda curious now."

"It's a Western style house!" Nanako said. "One of those really modern ones with white walls and lots of glass. The living room and kitchen are connected, but almost everything else is on the second floor, except for my room which is on the third. Mom says a friend of hers from high school designed it."

"I would have preferred a traditional house," Dojima said, "but Chisato insisted."

Chie was too stunned to respond, but Kanji said what everyone was thinking:

"Didn't know you were rich, Senpai."

"My mom is on tour internationally, you know," Nanako said, clutching her phone in the pocket of the leather jacket somewhat wistfully. Chisato hadn't called at all.

"Perhaps we should move on from this subject," Naoto said, noticing her discomfort. "Nanako-san, you have yet to open my gift."

"Mine too," Saki piped up.

Souji looked like he wanted to say something, but he just smiled.

"Okay then, yours first, Shirogane-san!" Nanako said cheerfully. "Dazzle me, please."

Naoto handed her a small unadorned wooden box. Blue, the same as his signature cap. Nanako made a show of opening it as slowly as she possibly could, prompting Kanji to improvise a drumroll on the nearby coffee table. Naoto closed his eyes and shook his head, smiling all the while.

Inside the box was a phone. No, a phone _case,_ which made her sigh in relief because she really didn't want to replace her cracked one. Nanako took it out anyway, marveling at the details. Of course the Detective Prince wouldn't get her just any old case. The first thing she noticed was the weight. That thing was heavy! But the insides were really soft and squishy, silicone maybe. The borders were black, made from hard plastic, and the sides were a pure white, but the back... it was at least an inch of solid steel. There was a hound's tooth pattern carved on it, the very same pattern on all Yasogami High skirts. Did he custom order it? The white would go very nicely with her new jacket, which she hoped was a coincidence, because the thought of Naoto Shirogane taking the time to coordinate a birthday gift for her was too much.

"Do bring your phone out, too," Naoto requested.

"Worried it won't fit?" Nanako teased.

"Not in the slightest," he said, and for a second there Nanako thought he would motion to tip his cap again, but he didn't.

Nanako giggled and oh god, she was giggling around him again and her dad totally noticed, but she did as she was told and took her phone out, placing it inside the case, which clicked shut so loudly she thought she'd never get it out of there again. As expected, it was a perfect fit. There were even holes for the cameras and speakers. Nanako decided to inaugurate it by taking a picture of the Detective Prince in his yukata.

"It was difficult to decide on a gift for you," Naoto said after a while. "I'd once offered to replace your screen, but you declined."

It still works, she remembered saying.

"I now understand why," he continued, "but even though it's cracked, a nice case can prevent further damage, wouldn't you say?"

Naoto was smiling kindly at her. Nanako knew he wasn't talking about the phone, but she didn't have the words to say how much that meant to her, so she simply motioned him closer and gave him a hug.

"I suppose I'm up next," Saki said.

Though she said it casually, she was hiding her hands behind her back, and something in her manner indicated that whatever she was hiding, it was important. Saki came closer and brought one hand forward, offering Nanako a tiny velvet box.

Nanako raised an eyebrow. Saki wasn't kneeling or anything, but her mannerisms... the timing... was she...?

"Not yet," her girlfriend teased with a wink.

Nanako shook her head, smiling, and took the box without any further hesitation, opening it to find a beautiful silver locket necklace. There was an intricate flower pattern etched onto its surface, and a glass case in the middle with pressed flowers inside. Nanako squinted, but though they were a soft periwinkle color, she wasn't sure about the actual breed. More importantly, that was silver, right? Nanako had never gotten such an expensive gift from anyone except her parents... She wasn't materialistic, but there was a certain satisfaction to be found in that alone.

"This is lovely..." she murmured while opening the locket, but then she made a face, because there wasn't anything inside. 

Saki had taken some great pictures in their time together, and she couldn't find one to put inside? Nanako was unable to hide her disappointment as she said, "It's empty."

"I know," said Saki, holding up the Polaroid camera she'd been hiding in her other hand. "You, me, and Sou-chan. Yes?"

"Oh, yes," Nanako breathed.

Souji looked up from his spot on Yosuke's lap upon hearing his name. "Big sis?" he asked.

"Come over here, Sou-chan!" she prompted, and he quickly hurried over to her. "Aunt Seta, would you mind doing us the honor?"

Not only did she not mind, the request seemed to add ten years to her life, and she took the camera with such enthusiasm that even Dojima raised an eyebrow.

Nanako, Souji and Saki bunched up together so that their heads were all bumping against each other, Nanako and Saki side by side and Souji slightly below them. Aunt Seta told them to say 'fuzzy pickles' as some sort of private joke with her brother, who did love his pickles, and they did, but not before Nanako whispered to Souji that he should pay close attention.

The camera clicked loudly as Aunt Seta took the picture, and seconds later a photograph came out of the slot at the bottom. Souji's eyes were wide with wonder. Nanako almost wished her aunt could take another one.

Aunt Seta grabbed the photo and waved it around for a few seconds until the picture showed. No one was blinking and Souji had a smile brighter than the sun, which was everything she could ask for. 

Saki stepped forward, now holding a pair of scissors with pink handles. Nanako thumbed the locket as her girlfriend cut up the photograph to size, and when she was done, they opened the empty locket together and gently pushed the picture inside, staring at it for a few seconds afterwards.

"Put it on," Saki requested. Nanako did so, only to find herself suddenly swept into a kiss so passionate even Souji was blushing afterwards.

"Mmm," she vocalized as the moment ended, leaving her quite dazed, which was probably the only reason Aunt Seta held back the comment about restraint she had been undoubtedly ready to give.

Saki adjusted her blouse before clearing her throat loudly, indicating that she wasn't done.

"In the language of flowers," she said, "rosemary equates to remembrance."

Those were the flowers inside the glass case. Nanako thumbed the locket again, intending to take a closer look, but her girlfriend had different plans. With a mischievous smile she suddenly snapped the locket in half, leaving herself with a tear shape holding the glass case, and Nanako with... a moon. 

Nanako stared in surprise.

"How did you...?" she mumbled, scanning the embossed pattern and noting that her half depicted a branch. No flowers, only leaves.

Saki conjured a tiny chain to tie up her half, which was larger and, consequently, held the photo they'd taken.

"If anything ever goes wrong between us," she said, "I want us to remember the love we feel now."

"I don't have the picture, though," Nanako protested weakly.

"I don't either," Saki replied. "The locket doesn't open unless both halves are together."

Nanako held up her moon, and Saki held up her flowers, and together they opened the locket once again and stared at the picture for a long moment. _No matter what,_ Nanako thought as their foreheads touched, _I won't let this feeling go away._

Yukiko returned about then. Following behind her were two inn staffers pulling a trolley between them. On the trolley was... something square, covered by white cloth. Oh god, it was probably cake, but even as Nanako groaned she couldn't hide her enthusiasm.

Souji jumped to his feet as soon as he saw the trolley, running towards it so fast Nanako thought he'd crash and they'd have to eat Souji cake instead of whatever they'd prepared for her, which she wouldn't mind, really. Souji covered in frosting was an image she wished dearly she could put on paper and... wait, hang on a second. Earlier, he'd had to take a second bath because he was covered in mud, right?

Right as she was coming to that realization, Souji pulled the white cloth, revealing a ridiculously big chocolate cake. Nanako was stunned; it had three whole tiers, with white chocolate icing decorating the base of each one. In fact, some of it was dripping along the sides, and it didn't seem intentional, because across the cake's side in frosting was the message, 'Happy Birthday Big Sis.' The katakana for 'birthday' was a bit wonky, so it could have only been written by Souji.

"B-Big sis, look, look," he said, still trying to catch his breath, "it's my cake!"

"I don't even know what to say," Nanako said. "Sou-chan, you made this for me?"

Souji nodded vigorously.

"You did a wonderful job, Souji-kun," Yukiko said before turning to Nanako. "I apologize for taking him away from you earlier today, but such an important mission simply needed L-Lieutenant Briefs to oversee it."

Yukiko kept herself from snorting and explained that though it was her idea to make the cake, she didn't have the skills to bake one herself, and it would need a personal touch in order to make it as a gift for Nanako. "In the end, I recalled how his gift to Yosuke-kun had been a cake," she said. "I had the chef help us bake it, and Souji-kun had the idea to make it tiered. He said you would get mad if your cake was smaller than the previous one."

"He got that right!" said not Nanako but Chie, and though she was a carnivore, she was totally craving that cake.

"Twice the man you are, my ass, you were just afraid of her wrath!" Yosuke complained, still mad at the gift card thing.

"I made the toppers myself," Yukiko added. "They should be edible, too."

So focused on the message, Nanako hadn't even noticed the toppers. She stood up now to give them closer inspection, moving to Souji's side. They were two little cake dolls. One was a stylized woman with long black hair in a white haori. Nanako didn't need to read the plaque below it to know it was her Persona, Izanami. Yukiko had paid attention the Gekkoukan lesson too, it seemed. Anyway, the other topper was Loveline. It was pink and had an umbrella, so that was kind of neat.

"D-Do you like it, big sis?" Souji asked, and her answer was a hug, the biggest one yet today.

"And now for the candle," Naoto said.

"What, really?" Nanako asked.

"I don't have an actual candle," he admitted, "but this should suffice, though I don't have a way to light it."

He brought out a firework sparkler and, well, he tried to set it on top of the cake, but he wasn't tall enough...

"I got it," Dojima said, the solution to both problems. He lit it with his lighter and the sparkler glowed magnificently into life.

Too magnificently, as it turns out. The heat it generated melted most of the Loveline topper, leaving a sooty pink blob in its place.

"It's, um, still edible," Yukiko said. "Probably."

"Don't eat the Izanami!" Nanako cried.

The two inn staffers began to distribute plates and drinks for everyone present, and after Nanako, Aunt Seta and Naoto snapped several pictures, Yukiko cut the cake and served it out.

Nanako had the first taste. "Sou-chan," she said after biting off a nice chunk, "you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up, but maybe consider being a chef!"

Souji beamed at her.

"The shopping district doesn't have a bakery," Chie said, "so... why not? You can open it up right next to Kanji's place."

"Junes has a bakery department," Yosuke pointed out. "It probably wouldn't fly."

"That's 'cause they ain't seen how tasty his cakes are!" Kanji declared with his mouth full.

"There doesn't need to be a conflict of interests," Nanako said. "Maybe Sou-chan can work for Junes. He'll be the department head in no time."

"Y-Yeah!" Souji said.

"Why stop there?" Saki said. "He could own the Junes, and then he'd be Hana-chan's boss."

"For some reason," Yosuke said, "if that happened, I get the feeling he would work me hard."

"The first thing he'd do is make you get rid of the elephant slide. Alternatively, turn it into a dinosaur slide instead. How about that?" Nanako asked, tickling Souji's tummy really quick. "Would you go down a dinosaur slide?"

"N-No!" Souji said, but it was hard to tell if he was answering the question or just responding to the tickle.

Saki raised a hand to her chin. "Hmm, I hadn't noticed that they shaved his hair," she said, causing Souji to self-consciously rub the spot, though he was careful not to touch the gauze. "You want that fixed up, honey?" Saki asked. "I could probably do it. I'm pretty good with scissors and hair clippers. I always cut Naoki's hair myself, you know!"

Souji didn't answer, he just sort of mumbled to himself. Nanako could tell he wasn't sure about getting a new haircut, but that he knew he couldn't stay the way he was either.

"How about an undercut?" Saki tried, quickly finding a picture of a hot guy with that haircut on her phone. "I hear it's getting popular in America."

When Souji still seemed unsure, Nanako chimed in. "You could keep your bangs. Oooh, and Senpai has dinosaur hair clips!"

Saki blinked. "I do," she confirmed. Probably she'd forgotten all about that until Nanako mentioned it.

"D-Do you have... pterodactyls?" Souji asked.

"Pink ones!" Saki replied. "But Nanako said that's more your little friend's color, huh? We could get any color you want."

There was a sparkle in Souji's eyes now. He didn't decide right away, but he would definitely be thinking about it! Nanako sent her girlfriend a grateful smile.

Now that the main party was over, everyone began to split off into little groups to chat while eating their cake. Yukiko and Kanji discussed the cake while Saki and Souji apparently hashed out the details of his hypothetical new haircut. Chie was speaking with Dojima, and Aunt Seta was taking pictures. 

Nanako decided to leave them all be and headed for the engawa attached to the room, and a few minutes later Yosuke sat next to her.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I don't even know where to start," he said. "There's a lot on my mind."

"Start with the first thing that comes to mind."

He opened his mouth, then closed it with a 'hmph.' He leaned back, looking past the awning at the night sky as he thought of what to say. The fact that he was even choosing his words so carefully spoke of how much he'd changed in just a few months.

"Did you know," he eventually said, "that Kou kissed Daisuke?"

"I was there when it happened."

"…Of course you were." He paused to roll his eyes. "Well, they're dating now."

"I'm glad for them."

"Me too," he said, "but the thing is, I thought Kou had a crush on Chie. Honestly, it was so big you could see it from space. Then it turns out he also had a crush on Daisuke? I don't get it."

"You can totally have a crush on more than one person at the same time," Nanako said. "Heck, not just crush, but love too."

"I'm not even going to comment on that," Yosuke said. "But I meant more like... Daisuke's a guy, right? Does that mean Kou is bisexual?"

"He could be," Nanako said, surprised and pleased that he'd used the word 'bisexual,' "but it's not always that simple."

By then, Yosuke was fidgeting a lot, so she asked, "Do you want to go somewhere else for this?"

"Can we? I don't want your dad getting the wrong idea."

"Nah, he's got his eye on Shirogane-san right now. Though, after that locket Senpai gave me, I think he knows she and I are serious."

"Then please." There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

Nanako stretched her arms as she got up, then began walking towards the garden. Yosuke didn't follow her right away. He was probably still worried. Eventually, though, they were taking a stroll together among the pine trees.

While they walked, she waited for Yosuke to continue the conversation, but he didn't. It was unusual for him to be so reserved. She spied a fountain along the path ahead and stopped there, pretending to survey it, but really she was surveying him instead. He leaned against the bamboo railing that was there to protect the fountain. Then he messed with his hair, his headphones, then his hair again, his headphones again… Nanako thought it would go on forever, but she didn't interrupt, knowing he was psyching himself up to say whatever he was going to say.

"I called that guy," he finally admitted.

"Who?" she asked. "Katsuragi?"

"No! The guy from the club."

"Oooh," she said, now grinning like a shark.

"Dammit, I knew you were going to react like that!" He glared at her, but there wasn't as much feeling in it as his words implied. "Yeah, I called him. We had a nice long talk. He's a really nice guy."

Yosuke was now smiling at the memory. 

"A-Anyway," he said, coming back to himself. "There's that guy, there's Kou, and Daisuke, and Kanji and his boyfriend. And Yukiko and Chie have always been suspiciously close, but… they're girls, so..."

"So what?" she challenged.

He paused at her interruption. "Yeah," he went on. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, there's you and Senpai too. I guess what I'm trying to say is, there are more people like this than I… than I used to think."

"It's not only for eccentric celebrities," Nanako agreed.

"Yeah, exactly. It seems like anyone can be like this. And if anyone can be like this... then what about me?"

She almost quipped 'What about you?' but Yosuke's expression told her it would be best to let him continue on his own. 

"I like girls," he said. "I want a girlfriend. I want to feel how full her lips are when I kiss her. I want to stroke her hair all the way down her back. I want to know how soft her body is. And to touch her... you know." He made a crude squeezing gesture right in front of his chest.

"Yeah, girls are great," Nanako murmured.

"But, back at the club," Yosuke said, "when Hiroyuki shoved his hand into my pants, honestly I... I wanted to do the same."

 _Oh, he has a name now,_ Nanako thought. "Go on," she said, when he hesitated after that admission.

"It wasn't just the alcohol talking. I mean, I've felt that way before. Not... hands down pants specifically, but… in PE class, I can't help but notice how sweaty the other guys get."

"Boy sweat is a horrible smell," Nanako said, "but sometimes it's just right."

Yosuke made a sound that was kinda like 'nnnnnnnn' and his head swayed some. "It's more about how the sweat makes them look than how it smells. In the locker room, after our workouts, you know..."

"How it rolls down their faces, then over their abs? Down their backs, to their butts?"

"Yeah, you understand." Yosuke sighed, apparently in relief. 

_So that's why you didn't want to join a sports club,_ Nanako thought. If only he'd just admitted that sooner, it would've saved him a lot of trouble.

...Though she'd probably still have tried to force him into one, she added with an internal sigh. She'd been a whole different person back then.

"And actually," Yosuke said, "during the Queen's Game, you know how at the end I was dared to kiss Kanji? I was kinda disappointed that he wouldn't let me."

"I never did kiss him," Nanako said, "but you guys got pretty into it back at the bathhouse."

"That guy in glasses is a lucky guy," Yosuke agreed. "When Kanji's angry, he can be terrifying, but even that's just a facade, huh? Underneath it all, he's a gentleman."

"Appearances are always deceiving," Nanako said. "I learned that just this year."

Yosuke touched the pink streak in his hair. "You know I got a lot of shit for this? Mostly at Junes. Obviously my hair is another sign that Junes is out to destroy traditional Japanese values. But maybe they're not too far off with that. I liked the attention it got me." He paused. "You know what I mean."

"Yes," she said softly.

He picked up a stone from the ground, then casually tossed it into the top tier of the fountain. It landed near the edge, neatly splitting some of the water's flow.

"I'm gay," he said. 

Nanako wanted to hug him for that, but by the pained expression on his face, the admission had brought him no peace.

"But damn it," he said, "I like girls too. It doesn't make any sense to like both."

"It's not about sense," she said. "It's about feeling, and wanting."

"Well, I want it to make sense!" He sighed and reached over the bamboo rail to flick the stone from the edge and further into the fountain. It was swallowed into the deeper water. "And if I like guys, what does that say about my friendships? I mean, Katsuragi is my friend. And that's it. Right? I'm happy when he texts me, but it's not because I'm secretly crushing on him or something... is it?"

"I think only you can answer that," Nanako said.

Yosuke scowled, gripping the fence tightly. "I don't want to always be second-guessing my ulterior motives like this! That wouldn't be fair to any of my friends, past, present, and future. Boys or girls!"

"Yosuke," Nanako said bluntly. "We can only be friends if you're not interested in me."

"What? Oh... that's what you said way back after we rescued Kanji from his Shadow, isn't it?" He began to blink and then frowned. "You said that, but we went to the bathhouse anyway." 

"And here we are, still friends," she said. "Yosuke, make friends for the sake of making friends. If a friendship is meant to turn into something more, it should happen naturally."

"Like you and Saki-senpai? I definitely never saw that coming, but... you really make her happy."

"I was surprised to see you two laughing together the other day," Nanako said. "That's what makes _me_ happy. I was worried for a while there."

"It helps to have something in common to talk about," Yosuke said, and when Nanako didn't understand, he added, "You."

They both chuckled at that.

"And now that we're on the subject..." Yosuke said. "Nanako, why does it always seem like you have all the answers? Everyone and their mom looks up to you. I have to admit, I'm still jealous."

"We're still not drunk enough for this," Nanako told him. She took in a deep breath and let it all out in a big sigh. "Really, Yosuke, there's nothing to be jealous of."

"You have friends everywhere, though. Not just acquaintances but actual friends, friends who make it a point to keep you in their lives," he argued, grimacing as he did. "That says a lot about who you are."

"Does it?" Nanako asked tiredly. "Maybe they just don't know who I really am. You didn't, before our fight."

"You never told me," he said, the same thing he'd said when they were making peace with each other.

"Not everyone wears their heart on their sleeve, Yosuke."

"Don't give me that crap. If anyone wears their heart on their sleeve, it's you!"

Nanako laughed humorlessly. She really wasn't drunk enough for this, but it was happening, so…

"Do you remember the first day of summer?" she asked. Obviously he wasn't expecting that question, but he scrunched up his face in thought. "I skipped school that day," she added.

"Oh. Yeah, I remember…" he said, looking at nowhere in particular. "You kept joking about me going through your stuff."

"I wasn't joking," she said.

"What, you wanted me to see your, um…" he trailed off, and Nanako wasn't sure whether it was from some realization or because he'd seen the serious look she had. "...That does sound like something you'd do," he said instead.

Nanako vocalized a vague murmur of agreement.

"Why did you skip?" Yosuke asked. "I mean, you came to school, but left before the first period was over… you could've just stayed home."

"Why do you think?" she asked in turn.

"I thought you were just being you," he replied honestly, "but if you're talking about it now…"

"Everyone looked too hot in their summer uniforms. Okay? I couldn't handle it."

Yosuke looked like he was about to crack some stupid joke, but he didn't, and as the silence went on, he stopped smiling too.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, really," she said exasperatedly. "Do you want me to describe it to you? Draw you a picture?"

"No need to get mad!" he said, almost raising his hands in defense. "Though, I guess I understand why you would be."

"I just… I didn't go anywhere special, you know, I just hung around the flood plain. I started to get really upset, though, so I called my mom, and, well, it didn't help." She sighed.

"What did you two talk about? Did you tell her you skipped school because hormones or...?"

Nanako nodded. "I told you, we're pretty close. Or were. I don't know anymore. But anyway, we talked about… see, I called her because I didn't have anyone here to talk about that stuff. Everyone would just think I was _joking._ " Nanako practically spat the word, and to his credit, Yosuke noticed. He backed away a little, unable to deny that he'd have thought so too. "I missed my house, and I missed my friends. I was tired of everyone here acting like we were so close when they didn't know the first thing about me. They didn't even know I was a pervert. There, I said it."

She stared at him, defiantly. He stared back, expecting her to say more, but when it was clear that she wasn't going to, he said rather weakly, "You still could have told me."

"No, I couldn't!" she shouted, punching the bamboo rail so hard it cracked. "I couldn't. My friends in Tokyo never needed me to, we always figured stuff out about ourselves together, but you… you met me, and you had this whole other me in your head. I was scared that… that you wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore, if you knew."

" _You_ were scared?" Yosuke asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "You didn't sound scared. I called you. You seemed totally relaxed, like you'd skipped just because you felt like it."

"I wish," she said.

"I guess it's not that hard to believe, though," he continued. "I mean, if Kanji can be a gentleman under those punk looks, then you can be a scared little girl under—"

Yosuke didn't get to finish his sentence, because she tripped him, making him fall flat on his ass.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"What do you know?!" she snarled. "This is all new to me too! I've never had to live in a fucking ghost town without my parents, and I've never had to solve some stupid supernatural murder case! I've never had to hide who I was! I've never had to doubt it, never had to look deeper or second guess it! I figured it all out so long ago you weren't even having boners about tits on your back yet! Except I came to this fucking place and everything I thought I knew turned out to be a lie! So fuck you, okay?! I'd never even… I'd never even lost anyone before coming here. Before losing Mr. Morooka."

Nanako had to stop, because she was choking up. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was trying her hardest to clean up the snot coming out of her nose. She didn't want anyone seeing her like this. Least of all Yosuke!

She didn't see it at first, crying as hard as she was, but for a long moment Yosuke merely stared at her, looking for all the world like the ground had been pulled out from under him. He eventually tried to say something, then stopped. 

Nanako shook her head and waved at him that she wanted to speak. She coughed a few times, trying to clear her scratchy throat. "I'm sorry," she croaked. "I overreacted. I shouldn't have… you didn't... you didn't deserve that."

"N-No," he said slowly. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't mean to insult you, it just kinda came out that way."

 _You're the master of spontaneous assholery,_ Nanako wanted to say, but she didn't, she didn't want to fling any more barbs, not after that. She wasn't any better.

"Don't hold back," he said, noticing her hesitation. "If you've got more to say, then say it. I probably need to hear it, anyway. I mean, I had no idea how much everything was getting to you until just now. Besides, you've always been real with me… to be honest, that's what I've always liked about you the most."

Nanako wiped her nose with the back of her hand, careful not to ruin her precious leather jacket, and didn't say anything.

"There was this one day when you were feeling down," he went on. "It was right before school. I remember it, because we talked a little and then you just suddenly perked up. You put on your silly glasses and strode into school like you owned the place. It made me think that, I don't know, that maybe nothing could touch you."

"...You were wrong."

Yosuke nodded. "Mr. Morooka… that's when things really came crashing down, wasn't it? I didn't want to admit it, but you were right back then. I really did think your delinquent looks and all that were just you being silly and over the top and totally in control," he said, "but I see now that it was your way of mourning him. Yukiko talked me down good that day our scores were posted, but you told me to buy you a soda and we'd be even, and I believed it. I was so blind."

"I was blind too," she said. "I wanted to help you become a better person, expand your worldview. I didn't want to see you stuck between the macho jerk and the sensitive wimp all your life, didn't want to hear you snickering about girls, or cracking jokes about Kanji. I just needed to whip you into shape, right?" Nanako laughed bitterly. "I never saw you for what you are. I knew your type, that's all that mattered. I thought I was the superior man."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Yosuke replied. "I noticed back when we were talking things out after our fight. You said you were a terrible friend. You told me to think about the pain you'd put us all through… and you know what, I did, but there was hardly any. Yeah," he added when he noticed her incredulous expression, "so maybe some of the things you said stung, and maybe you fucked up and nearly got everyone killed. You punched me in the face and didn't apologize, but you think this is enough to make me hate you? I've been thinking about this ever since that day, and it makes sense now. No one should have so much weight on their shoulders, but you thought you could carry it alone, isn't that right?"

"Yosuke," she began, but he turned away from her to stare at the fountain some more.

"I don't hate you," he said. "I won't ever hate you, you got that? I could die. I don't care if you didn't see me for me, so cut that crap about being a terrible friend, and start talking to us instead!"

Grateful for his words, and sensing an opportunity, Nanako leaped into Yosuke, catching him in a hug from behind.

"Bwuh?!" he vocalized.

"Don't you dare talk about squeeze play now," she warned, but she couldn't stop smiling.

Yosuke was too stunned to respond.

"I was upset, you know," she said, sniffling against his back, "that all of you seemed to trust me and rely on me so much, but I couldn't trust you back. I couldn't tell you that I haven't had the time or the energy to do the stuff I used to enjoy before coming here, or that lately I've been wondering if there's even anything I like to do anymore, that isn't hanging out with Sou-chan and you guys. I fucked up too much to suddenly p-play the victim."

"Nanako..." Yosuke sighed. "I did think it was weird for someone who plays the piano to barely listen to music. Ayane-san said so too, you know? During practice, I asked her what to buy for your birthday, and she said 'maybe a pair of headphones like yours.' Saki-senpai always did say I could never read the mood… Ayane-san met you like, twice, and that was enough for her to notice something was off."

"Ayane is a nice girl," Nanako murmured. "I'd be okay with it if you dated her."

"Why would I need your okay?!" Yosuke asked in mock outrage. "I don't like her that way," he then admitted. "I think it's thanks to you that I can know that so clearly."

Nanako shook her head, though it was kind of pointless when she was still hugging him. "It's thanks to your own efforts," she said, and he seemed to mull that over for a bit.

"My friendships back in the city were so shallow," he said suddenly. "I never realized. Back then, I mean. I thought that was just how things were, but I could never have with any of them the same conversations I have with Ayane-san, and whenever we fought, they'd just talk shit behind my back for a week or something and then totally forget about it. Nothing like my fight with you."

"I don't know if that's a good thing," Nanako said.

"I don't know either," he murmured. "That reminds me. Last year, Katsuragi lost his grandma. I think he was distant for a while, but he might have had family responsibilities or something. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when he started hanging out with us again, but… you know, maybe I just didn't want to see."

"Maybe you should ask him," she suggested, "though everyone deals with loss differently, or so I am told."

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone react as strongly as you did," Yosuke said. "I wonder if… if you'd react the same way, if I died."

"Don't say that! Don't even say that!" she shouted, hitting him on the back repeatedly.

"Sorry, sorry! That was a dumb thing to say. It's just, I can't imagine anyone caring for me that much." He sighed. "Anyway, you were saying that you can't bring yourself to rely on us?"

 _Nice save,_ Nanako thought weakly.

"Listening is easy," she said, "but I haven't talked about my problems to many people here, you know."

Kanji. Saki. Aunt Seta. Naoto could sometimes figure things out on his own and talk to her about them. And then there was Izaya.

"You're talking to me now," he said, turning his head back so she could see his smile.

"Yeah," she said with a smile of her own. "I guess I am."

Nanako and Yosuke slowly made their way back to the engawa, talking about mundane things such as their favorite artists and what cartoons they'd watched when they were kids, stuff they'd somehow never talked about before. Once they got there, Nanako sat down like she'd originally planned to, while Yosuke went inside. She wondered about his doubts and insecurities regarding his sexuality, and wished she'd done more to reassure him. That conversation had been totally derailed… one more item for her list of fuck ups.

Nanako was so deep in thought she barely noticed a scooter parking right in front of the reception room, and yelped in surprise when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Four beef bowls, one mega bowl, one hiyashi chuka, one tonkotsu ramen and one side order of pot stickers," said Aika Nakamura. "That last one is on the house."

"A-Aika-chan?!" Nanako said. "I didn't..."

"I did," Dojima interrupted, already holding up his wallet. "I can't eat that much sugar, and this way, it seems more like a party."

"Oh... but what about the pot stickers?" she asked, turning her head to the delivery girl. "I've ordered way more than this in the past and never got a bonus!"

"I missed you at the hospital this time," said Aika-chan, doing a V sign at her. Very briefly, she glanced at Souji, who was sharing his slice of cake with Yosuke. "Enjoy your meal," she finished, and reached out to her bike helmet.

"No, wait!" Nanako said, grabbing her hand. "I mean, um... you're invited too, you know?"

Aika-chan smiled for a fraction of a second, and instead of wrestling free, she squeezed Nanako's hand.

* * *

Aika-chan called her dad, who it turned out was Aiya's owner himself, to say that she'd be back late, but as soon as she set her phone down, she was startled by a smiling Souji, holding up a slice of cake for her.

"T-This is for... all the yummy..." he trailed off, blushing all of a sudden. Yeah, he still wasn't totally comfortable around strangers, even if he'd seen Aika-chan deliver them food before. Possibly his pride in the cake had overtaken his shyness and he was just now realizing what he was doing.

Aika-chan took out an uzumaki roll from her apron and offered it to him. A professional businesslike exchange took place as he accepted the uzumaki roll and she accepted the cake. They even shook hands after, and by the end of it, he was smiling up at her with rosy cheeks. But where did she get that uzumaki roll? Aiya didn't sell sushi. Maybe it was her snack. Maybe she was like Yukiko, trying to break free from the path decided for her, and once she inherited Aiya she'd turn it into a sushi bar.

As if reading her thoughts, Aika-chan raised an eyebrow at her. Yeah, right. Like that'd ever happen.

Nanako was idly watching Chie chow down on the mega beef bowl when suddenly her phone vibrated. She quickly took it out. It was a text message. From her mother!

'Turn on the TV to channel 4.'

Though it was unusual for Chisato to send her messages without any emotes or kisses, Nanako hurried over to the big TV and turned it on. It was already on the right channel.

On screen was a gigantic audience chatting animatedly. Nanako couldn't believe her eyes. Was that... Carnegie Hall? In the US? What was it doing on NTV? Everyone was starting to gather around to see what Nanako was watching, but she didn't give it any thought, too focused on the program, and suddenly the audience was silenced and the lights dimmed.

In the distance, a lone figure standing next to a grand piano bowed. Nanako didn't understand why the camera was so far away from them, why there wasn't a spotlight over the piano. There was some whispering in English by the commentators that Nanako couldn't quite make out. The camera did move closer then, but no lights.

The figure on the piano, face framed in shadow, started to play a light jazzy piece. The camera focused on their fingers, going from key to key as though water being poured on a cup, and Nanako couldn't help but imitate their movements.

"I know that song," murmured both Saki and Yosuke simultaneously.

"I do too," said Dojima, and though Nanako couldn't take her eyes away from the screen, she knew he was smiling.

As the figure finished playing, a spotlight finally shone over them, revealing a beautiful woman in her mid thirties with light brown hair and amber eyes; she had a large forehead and an even larger smile, and the way her hair framed her face made it resemble a heart.

"Presenting to you live," said a female announcer with a distinct accent, "from Japan, please welcome Chisato Kasai!"

There was a round of applause as Chisato, wearing a stunning steel blue ballroom dress, gracefully curtsied to the audience.

"Mom," Nanako said, holding her own arm so she wouldn't reach out and touch the television.

"Mom?" said almost everyone in the room.

"I apologize for changing the program," said Chisato in flawless English, "but today, October 4th, is a very special day. My daughter was born on this day, and though we are so far apart, I would like to use this concert to remind her that the tyranny of distance is in the mind. Thank you."

"What time is it in New York?" Yosuke wondered out loud.

"Early morning, I would expect," Naoto said, seeming, for once, completely befuddled.

"Do they normally show piano concerts live on TV?" Chie asked.

"Nope," Nanako replied with a big dumb grin. "Now shut up and listen."

Chisato sat down on the piano bench and, without waiting for her cue, gently started playing. As she did, the spotlight widened, revealing a second grand piano right next to her. Chisato smiled slightly as her hands and body moved between the two as though nothing was out of place, the frilly sleeves of her dress whipping wildly with each sudden movement, almost a dance. It wasn't an original composition, but it might as well have been. Nanako remembered how devoted her mom had been to perfecting both the arrangement and her own playing during the year leading up to her tour.

Dojima put a hand on her shoulder, and Nanako gladly leaned against it. They both missed her so much. Franz Liszt's La Campanella seamlessly segued into Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata—their song—and then back again as her mother incorporated a myriad classical pieces into her own. When it was over, Nanako couldn't help but clap alongside the audience.

"Chisato Kasai," Chie said while they wheeled the second piano away. "I know that name. Misuzu Hiiragi was supposed to open for her before that whole scandal happened. I had no idea she was your mom, Nanako."

"Does that mean you could have been a target?" Yosuke asked, facing Nanako. "The police used to think the victims were connected to the scandal, right?"

"That is correct," Naoto said. "Furthermore, it did not go unnoticed that the mothers seemed to fit the pattern much better than the children once Yukiko-san and Kanji-san's kidnappings were brought to light."

"Oh, you're right... my mother was the one in conflict with Ms. Yamano, not me," Yukiko said.

"Ma made her and that Namatame trash a scarf set too," said Kanji. "I remember 'cause she ended up only buying the female one. We have a hard enough time selling cloth, who the heck would wanna buy a scarf? Damn thing's still there, gathering dust."

"Wait, a scarf?" Yosuke squeaked. "D-Do you mean _the_ scarf?"

"Guys," Nanako said, grinding her teeth as she felt Dojima grow increasingly tense next to her. "Can you shut the fuck up and enjoy the concert?"

The next few songs were completely original compositions. Chisato loved to mix classical music with more modern styles. Anything that caught her attention she would try to incorporate into her music, and that meant some of the songs Nanako listened to at home, but sometimes she'd get really into some obscure genre from the 1600s and her songs would change to match. As a result, she knew how to play not only the piano but also the keyboard and the organ. Funnily enough, back when she was in high school she was actually a painter. Nanako thought her mom was pretty decent, but Chisato obviously disagreed, and said she moved to music because there was always someone better, and she wanted to stand out on her own. Nanako could relate well enough. Listening to her mother play, she felt she'd never be able to top that, no matter how hard she worked.

"How come your mom has a different family name than you?" Chie asked when she thought speaking was okay again. "Isn't she married to your dad? Is 'Kasai' just her stage name or what?"

"It's her maiden name," Nanako explained. "Dad is a high profile cop, so it wouldn't fly to have such an obvious target painted on Mom's back."

"Chisato was always a free spirit," Dojima added, "so she didn't want to give up her maiden name either. It worked out well enough for everyone."

"What, so when you said your family was being targeted by the Yakuza, that could have actually been true?" Yosuke joked.

Dojima noticeably stiffened. "What? Nanako, what's this all about?" he asked with a weird sense of urgency.

"Just some stupid joke I made at the start of the year, Dad," she replied. "I'm surprised Yosuke still remembers."

"Yeah, well, it made an impression," Yosuke said with a shrug.

Dojima didn't relax, but that didn't matter, because Chisato was about to play her last song. Nanako was practically jumping.

"Revolutionary Etude!" she mouthed, sending Yosuke a significant look.

"Oh, this is the one we played when..." he started.

"Shut up!" Nanako ordered.

Chopin's Revolutionary Etude didn't have any particular meaning to her until she'd played it that day in the storm. Now it represented reconciliation and release. Despite ordering him to shut up, Nanako broke free from her dad to go over to Yosuke, and she held his hand firmly for the rest of the song. Souji had been hovering close to him, though, and as soon as she saw them holding hands, he wanted in on the action, and cuddled up against them. Nanako didn't mind. Neither did Yosuke.

There was one last round of applause as Chisato finished her concert. Her mother spun around, making her dress flare, before bowing to the audience, and Nanako was taking in every detail, but her trance was broken by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, coming not from the television but her own phone.

Nanako blinked. All of a sudden, Chisato was waving her smartphone at the camera with a playful smile as the audience laughed. When did she...?

"Pick it up," said Dojima.

"Mom?" she murmured helplessly into the phone.

"Happy birthday, honey," said Chisato. There was a slight delay between her voice on the phone and on the television, but that made it all the sweeter.

"Mom," Nanako repeated, her eyes watering up. "That was wonderful."

The camera closed in on Chisato as she nodded, smiled, and then silently ended the call. Nanako understood. That had been more than enough.

"I was wrong," said Chie a little while later, "someone did manage to top the jacket."

"Eh, I don't like being on top anyways," said Kanji, and Nanako laughed so hard she nearly choked up on her sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> herrDoktorat says: The moon is beautiful, isn't it?
> 
> I hope this chapter was as satisfying for you to read as it was for us to write. Did you know we got it done in basically a month? Being motivated is something else. I wrote a lot of the scenes this time, more than I usually do. I was supposed to be the ideas man, but... I think I feel as strongly as Angevon does about finishing this fic, our masterpiece. I wanted to contribute too, not just with ideas and enthusiasm and the odd scene. I wanted to be more of a coauthor.
> 
> This chapter is special for a bunch of reasons. First and foremost, today, October 4th, is the day the chapter takes place in, and, of course, Nanako's birthday. This is almost in real time! Except for it not being 2011 anymore and this comment being published a day late, hehe.
> 
> Nanako said her seventeen year old self would look back and see her sixteen year old self as a dumbass, do you remember? Our focus was growth, but not just hers. Everyone changed a little bit. Nanako, though, always had a strong personality, for better or worse. Sure, she was open minded and would try to help everyone she felt needed it, she loved with all her heart and threw herself wholly into whatever she needed to do, but she was also impulsive and judgemental, dismissive and sometimes insensitive; she had little to no filter, and often didn't realize the consequences to her actions until they hit her, quite literally, in the face. Nanako is, of course, a teenager who makes mistakes and tries to learn from them. Our aim was never to make a checklist out of her character traits and slowly fix them one by one, which means some things about her won't change, but others... well, you can decide for yourselves whether she's changing for the better for not.
> 
> On an unrelated note, we actually commissioned a picture of Nanako from the lovely Kei. [You can see it here!](http://undead-cypress.tumblr.com/post/165423641914/commission-for-herrdoktorat-and-angevon-for)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading. Please leave a comment, we really like those!


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